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COFOilGWT DEPOSm 



AN AMERICAN HISTORY 



BY 



NATHANIEL WRIGHT STEPHENSON 

u 

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN THE COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 



Know one another, my countrymen, and you 
will love one another." — L. Q. C. LAMAR 



GINN AND COMPANY 

BOSTON • NEW YORK • CHICAGO • LONDON 
ATLANTA • DALLAS • COLUMBUS • SAN FRANCISCO 



L 

COPYRIGHT, 1913 1917, 1919, BY NATHANIEI, WRIGHT STEPHEN's6n 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



TEbt atftenaum fircea 

GINN ASU CUMl'AN'^ ■ IKU- 
PRIETORS • BOSTON • U.S.A. 



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i PREFACE 

Doubtless every teacher of American history has felt at times 
the oppression of an apparent lack of unity in his subject. Colo- 
nial history in particular has proved a stumblingblock. The old 
way of tracing thirteen tales, one after another — neatly laying 
down one thread to pick up the next — roused dislike in our 
pupils who, fortunately, brought to their study the dramatic sense, 
the demand for sequence, which is the literary inspiration of 
normal youth. Atlast we see how to meet that demand. Through 
a reformed conception of our past, we now perceive that colonial 
American history finds its own noble unity only when seen in 
perspective as part and parcel of the general politics of the Em- 
pire. One endeavor of the present text is to be true to this 
larger conception of our colonial period. It is quite unnecessary 
in this connection to insist upon the debt which all of us owe 
to such original observers as Professor H. L. Osgood and 
Professor C. M. Andrews — to name but two conspicuous 
benefactors. 

As to our history subsequent to 1783, the patriotic teacher 
should be a stranger to all its hatreds while keenly a sympa- 
thizer with all its aspirations. Whatever be the shortcomings 
of this text, it may at least make confident claim to being in- 
formed by such a temper, the temper expressed in the fine line 
quoted on the title-page. 

Passing to more technical matters, it is a pleasure to acknowl- 
edge my indebtedness to a great scholar — Professor Albert 
Bushnell Hart — from whom, long ago, I learned whatever I 
know of historical workmanship. His able " Essentials in Amer- 
ican History," though embodying a point of view to which I can- 
not wholly subscribe, has, nevertheless, been my leading guide in 
the difficult task of determining what data belong of right in a 



vi AMERICAN HISTORY 

textbook. My thanks are due to the Honorable Theodore Jervey, 
Recorder of the city of Charleston, and to my colleagues, Pro- 
fessor P. M. Rea, Professor L. M. Harris, and President Har- 
rison Randolph, by whom the labor of reading and criticizing 
manuscript has been generously endured. I have had similar 
considerate aid from Professor Amos S. Hershey and Professor 
A. M. Brooks, of the University of Indiana; from Mr. Archi- 
bald P'reeman, of Phillips Andover Academy ; and from Miss 
Sarah Barnwell Elliott. Miss Ellen M. EitzSimons, librarian of 
the Charleston Library, has assisted me in many ways. 

My last word of indebtedness is due to Professor Philip Van 
Ness Myers. His method — simple yet without condescension, 
exact but vivid — forms an admirable model. His personal influ- 
ence is ever on the side of those large views of historical signifi- 
cance that eschew the transitory and build upon the permanent. 
I must be permitted to quote a remark he once made to me. 
We had spoken of the convincingness attained by Japanese 
draftsmen through their renunciation of the temporar)^ aspects 
of objects — the wavering light and shadow — and their preoc- 
cupation with the permanent form. "There," said Professor 
Myers, " is the secret of textbook writing." If I have not 
succeeded in profiting by his example, it is not through lack 

of faith. 

NATHANIEL WRIGHT STEPHENSON 

College of Charleston 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. THE PROLOGUE TO AMERICAN HISTORY i 

1. Primitive America 

2. The Search for America 

3. The Italian Explorers 

4. The Rush to the New World 

5. Spain and England 

First Period {1606—16^8). The Foundations of 
A fnericanism 

II. THE BEGINNINGS OF VIRGINIA 26 

III. THE COMMONWEALTH OF PLYMOUTH 35 

IV. REACTION AGAINST THE LIBERALS OF VIRGINIA . . 39 

V. MASSACHUSETTS, THE GREAT SECTARIAN STATE. 45 

VI. MARYLAND AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY 56 

VII. THE MIDDLE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY . . 65 

1. The Colonies and the Long Parliament 

2. The New England Confederation 

3. The Colonies under Cromwell 

Second Period {id^S-iydd). Fast and West 
in the British Fnipire 

VIII. THE SECOND ADVANCE OF THE ENGLISH 82 

1. Royal Exploitation of America 

2. The Struggle to possess the Land 

3. Quakers and Huguenots 

4. The Establishment of a Northern Boundary 

IX. THE STUART TYRANNY 102 

X. OUR FIRST GREAT TURNING POINT 109 

1. The Reorganization of the Empire 

2. Life in the Seventeenth Century 

vii 



viii AMERICAN HISTORY 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XI. THE SPANISH DANGER 126 

1. Carolina, the Southern Bulwark 

2. Georgia, the Sentinel State 

3. Collapse of the Spanish Power 

XII. THE MIDDLE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY . 138 

XIII. WILLIAM PITT 151 

Third Period {lydd-iSij). The Establishment of 
a Western Power 

XIV. THE GEORGIAN TYRANNY 168 

XV. THE WAR OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION . . 183 

1. The British Invasion 

2. England and her Enemies 

3. The World-Wide War 

4. The Disruption of the Empire 

5. The End of Absolutism 

XVL THE THIRTEEN STATES 213 

XVII. THE CONSTITUTION 231 

XVIII. THE UNITED STATES IN 1789 241 

XIX. THE NEW RfiGIME 248 

1. Introductory Legislation 

2. Problems of the Frontier 

3. Washington's Foreign Policy 

4. The Rule of the Federalists 

XX. THE AGE OF NAPOLEON 267 

Fourth Period {iSi^-iSyy). North and Soicth 
in the American Union 

XXI. THE FEDERAL PROBLEM 288 

1. The Needs of the West 

2. Slavery Co.mplications 

3. The Tariff Problem 

4. Nullification 

XXII. THE DUAL REVOLUTION 320 

XXIII. THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SECTIONS • . ■ ■ 339 

1. Andrew Jackson 

2. The New Parties 



CONTENTS ix 

chapter page 

3. The Texan Complication 

4. The Oregon Question 

5. Polk and his Plans 

6. California 

7. Reorganization of Parties 

8. The Compromise of 1850 

XXIV. THE MIDDLE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY . 377 

XXV. "A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF" 389 

XXVI. THE CRISIS OF 1860 401 

XXVII. THE WAR 406 

1. The Dissolution of the Union 

2. The Combatants 

3. The Period of Uncertainties 

4. The Crisis 

5. The Confederate Rally 

6. The Conquest of the South 

XXVIII. RECONSTRUCTION 466 

1. The Presidential Program 

2. The Contest between the President and Congress 

3. The Recovery of Local Independence 

Fifth Period {iSyy-igij). The American Federal 
Republic 

XXIX. THE RISE OF INDUSTRIALISM 493 

XXX. RETURN INTO WORLD POLITICS 519 

XXXI. THE NEW AGE 532 

APPENDIX A. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE .... 559 

APPENDIX B. THE CONSTITUTION 563 

APPENDIX C. STATES OF THE UNION ' 578 

APPENDIX D. PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES . . 580 
APPENDIX E. CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATION OF 

THE SECTIONS, 1790-1860 581 

APPENDIX F. GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 582 

INDEX 589 



FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

George Washington Frontispiece 

Columbus appealing to Isabella lo 

Drake repairing his Ship 22 

The Puritan 46 

Lord Baltimore 61 

The Long Parliament in Session "" 70 

James Oglethorpe 134 

Benjamin Franklin 148 

William Pitt, Earl of Chatham 166 

Signing the Declaration of Independence 182 

Development of the American Flag 194 

Lady Washington's Reception 244 

Alexander Hamilton 258 

Thomas Jefferson 268 

Henry Clay 304 

Daniel Webster 3^8 

John Caldwell Calhoun 33^ 

Andrew Jackson 34- 

The Occupation of the Northwest 358 

Jefferson Davis 408 

Confederate Flags 4'3 

Robert Edward Lee 43° 

Abraham Lincoln 44° 

Scene of Pickett's Charge, Gettysburg 446 

Ulysses S. Grant 45^ 

The Republic 558 



LIST OF FULL-PAGE AND DOUBLE- 
PAGE MAPS 

PAGE 

Early Voyages to America 15 

America, 1555 21 

French Explorations 98 

English America, 1 689-1763 158 

British Empire in 1766 164 

Eastern North America previous to Revolution 172 

United States in 1783 214 

United States in 1790 252 

Louisiana Purchase Territory 272 

United States in 1810 278 

The Acquisition of the Far West, 184 5- 18 50 364 

System of Communication, 1850 378 

Territorial Growth of United States 380 

United States in 1850 386 

Confederate States, 1861 418 

The United States 548 



AN AMERICAN HISTORY 

CHAPTER I 

THE PROLOGUE TO AMERICAN HISTORY 

I. PRIMITIVE AMERICA 

1. The First Americans. No one knows how America was 
first peopled, and yet almost everywhere in the United States 
we find traces of an ancient people that have left httle behind 
them except their graves. Who were they ? Where did they 
come from ? We call them the mound builders because their 
burial places are earthen mounds. In these mounds have 
been found pottery, tools, and weapons ; also the bones of 
men. But we have not yet found any writing. The tools 
and weapons are so rudely made that it is plain they are the 
work of savages. 

There were other native races in ancient America. Three 
of them that did remarkable things were the Peruvians, the 
Mexicans, and the people of Yucatan. 

Like the mound builders, who may have been their kinsmen, 
these people have left no books for us to read. But they had 
a sort of picture writing much hke the hieroglyphics of ancient 
Egypt. Many of their hieroglyphics, carved in stone, may 
still be seen, especially in Yucatan and Peru. There are 
also ruins of temples, palaces, and gigantic fortifications. 

2. An Ancient American Fortress. In Peru, near the city 
of Cuzco, stand the ruins of a vast fortress of the ancient 
Americans. Some of the stones in its walls are so huge that 
we cannot see how they could have been set in place without 



2 AMERICAN HISTORY 

the use of engines. In metal working as well as in masonry 
the Peruvians were highly skilled. Very early they discovered 
the rich mines of the Andes ; and Cuzco, their capital, became 
in large part a city of silver and gold. Its cliief temple, dedi- 
cated to the sun, was called " the place of gold." Still more 
remarkable than either the fortress or the temple was the 
summer palace of the Peruvian monarchs in a lovely valley 
among the Andes. Surrounding the palace were artificial 







TEMPLE PYRAMID AT PAPAUTLA, MEXICO 

gardens in which the plants and flowers were all of the precious 
metals. Tall stalks of corn stood high in the bright mountain 
air, but the stalks were of silver and the ears and tassels of the 
corn were gold. 

3. Yucatan. Passing from Peru to Yucatan we find there 
the empty city of Uxmal. The people have been destroyed. 
Their treasures were long ago carried off by Spanish con- 
querors. The city, left desolate, has been taken possession of 
by the tropical forest. In this forest, the modern explorer 
of Uxmal finds himself among stone pyramids on which seeds 
have lodged and grown into trees. Among the trunks, on the 



THE PROLOGUE TO AMERICAN HISTORY 3 

walls of shattered temples, appear strange carvings. The 
twilight of the forest is filled with these ancient images which 
were once the gods of Yucatan. 

4. Mexico. More splendid, probably, than either Cuzco 
or Uxmal was the capital of a strange and terrible people 
that inhabited the mountain country known to-day as Mexico. 
Built upon a group of islands, the ancient capital of the Mexi- 
cans was the American Venice. Like Cuzco it was bar- 
barically rich in gold and silver. Like Uxmal it had its 
pyramid temples. In the midst of its blue lake, surrounded 
by mountains that were crowned by perpetual snow, the 
Mexican city glittered like an enormous jewel. 

However, we cannot think of ancient Peruvians and ancient 
Mexicans as civilized peoples in the sense in which we think of 
ancient Greeks and Romans. In the science of government 
they never advanced beyond comparatively primitive stages. 
In religion, the Mexicans, at least, were still upon the lowest 
level, worshiping hideous gods with human sacrifices. 

5. The Indians. The red Indians of our own country are 
still to be accounted for. Were they related to the Mexicans ? 
Perhaps, but we are not quite sure. All we can assert posi- 
tively is that the central part of North America was once 
occupied by a tall, well-built race, with straight black hair 
and copper-colored skins. They were bold, could endure 
much pain, and were able warriors, but they had Httle of what 
we mean by " civilization." That is, they did not build 
cities ; they supported themselves largely by hunting ; they 
knew Httle about the use of metal ; and they could not write. 

How long the Indians have lived in America it is impossible 
to say. Very Hkely their remote ancestors came from Asia, 
but if that is the case, the migration took place so long ago 
that the Indians themselves have lost all knowledge of it. Nor 
is the memory of it preserved in Asiatic tradition. Never- 
theless, the Aleutian Islands, strung along between Alaska 
and Siberia, may well have been the stepping-stones by 
means of which some old Asiatic people, thousands of years 



4 AMERICAN HISTORY 

ago, passed from Asia to America. Possibly the forefathers 
of our Indians were driven northward out of middle Asia 
by some younger, more powerful people into the snow and 
ice of Siberia. Expelled from habitable Asia, they were left 
to live or die apart in a land which no one visited. If in the 
course of time they found their way eastward and southward 
and at last reached a better country, no one in Asia either knew 
or cared. So, for many centuries, all Asia bcheved that the 
Pacific Ocean was the end of things. Looking out across it, 
Asiatics thought, '' Beyond this there is nothing." 

6. Europe and America. The Europeans at the other end 
of the world had a similar delusion. In those far-off days, 
when the earth was supposed to be fiat, they looked westward 
over the Atlantic Ocean and said, " There is nothing beyond." 

And all the while, without ever suspecting it, the Europeans 
and the Asiatics were looking in each other's direction, round 
the curve of the earth's ball. Between them all the while 
lay the unknown land, America, with its savage, red-skinned 
warriors, its bestial human sacrifices, and its golden temple 
of the sun. 

n. THE SEARCH FOR AMERICA 

7. First Link with Europe. The earliest known events 
which connect the Old World with the New took place toward 
the end of the ninth century. To the far western island of 
Iceland, in 874, came the Vikings from Norway. 

All the west coast of Norway is cut into by the sea. Long, 
narrow channels go deep into the land. The tide, as it rises, 
roars through these channels, and the waves crash upon the 
bases of lofty mountains. There, more than a thousand 
years ago, lived the Vikings— restless, piratical folk who issued 
from their bleak inlets to rove the seas in search of adventure. 
The most daring of sailors, they braved the worst storms in a 
type of boat which we should not consider seaworthy. A 
viking " ship " was but sixty or seventy feet long, with a single 
mast and one square sail, and oars on either side. In such 




THE PROLOGUE TO AMERICAN HISTORY 5 

boats the Norsemen went as far east as Constantinople ; 
while in the west they did what we shall now hear. 

8. Settlement of Iceland and Greenland. In Iceland the 
Norsemen settled a new Norway, where the descendants of 
the Vikings live to this day. 

A hundred years later, a famous sea rover, Eric the Red, 
made his way to Greenland. The news of his discovery 
caused great excitement in Iceland ; and in 985 Eric sailed for 
Greenland a sec- 
ond time at the 
head of a numer- 
ous party of emi- 
grants. 

Few spots on 
our continent ap- 
peal so powerfully 
to the imagina- 
tion as does a ^^ _-^_^..ri.., 
little piece of a nur.e .hip 
meadow land, at 

the head of an inlet on the west coast of Greenland. There 
Eric fixed his colony, the first European settlement in North 
America. The site of it is still marked by a group of ruins. 

9. Vinland. It would seem that there was a considerable 
migration from Iceland to Greenland. Presently the Norse 
began to wonder what, if anything, lay to the south and 
west. There are different tales as to who was the first European 
to reach continental America, but that honor is generally 
accorded to Leif Ericson, one of the sons of Eric the Red. 
We may take it as settled that Leif reached the mainland of 
North America about the year 1000. He cruised along the 
coast, entered a great bay, found grapes growing wild, and 
therefore called the country Vinland.^ 

* It is not certainly known just what part of the coast Leif visited. Many 
students are convinced that his great bay was Boston harbor. There is a 
monument to Leif in the Fenway Park, Boston. 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



10. The Norsemen in Vinland. The Norsemen attempted 
to plant a colony in Vinland. We have record of at least one 
man who was born there, a certain Snorre, from whom many 

persons in later years claimed 
descent. The very beginning 
of the struggle between the 
white and red races to possess 
America was a skirmish be- 
tween Norsemen and Indians, 
in which the Norse leader was 
shot dead by an Indian arrow. 
Soon afterward a fierce attack 
by Indians drove the Norse- 
men to their ships. That was 
the end of the colony, but the 
Greenlanders did not forget 
what Lcif had found, and long 
afterward they were still mak- 
ing voyages to Vinland for 
timber. In time even these 
ceased. During many generations there seem to have been 
no Europeans west of Greenland. 




LEIF ERICSON STATUE, BOSTON 



III. THE ITALT\N EXPLORERS 

11. The Vinland Tradition. In the countries of the far 
North people continued to talk of Vinland. In Iceland the 
story of it was set down as part of Norse history. It was 
carried eastward to the Orkney Islands. Two Italians of 
noble birth, the brothers Nicola and Antonio Zeno, heard the 
story while visiting the Orkneys and resolved to explore the 
West. The narrative left us by the Zenos tells of a visit to 
a great island in the West ; of long wanderings in sea fog ; 
of a western country which has not been identified ; and of 
exploring the coasts of Greenland. That is all we know of 
the earliest visit of the Italians to North America. 



THE PROLOGUE TO AMERICAN HISTORY 



12. The Renaissance and Exploration. However, the time 
had come when ItaHans were to outdo all other peoples in 
making voyages and discoveries. Italy was then in the midst 
of that great awakening which we call the Renaissance. After 
a long neglect of thought, Europe rediscovered the dehght of 
it, chiefly through rediscovering the classic writers of Greece 
and Rome. One of the signs of the time was a passion for 
knowledge; another was the spirit of adventure. Thus 








Region of the Norse Discoveries ( Southern Europeans, probably had no knowledge o£it,')^ 



THE KNOWN WORLD IN 1492 

arose the Italian enthusiasm for travel, which the Zenos were 
by no means the first to feel. Long before, Marco Polo had 
set his countrymen a famous example. Lured eastward by 
the tales of Arab traders, he made his way through Persia, 
across India, to China. His reports of the wonders of those 
countries — the silks, the spices, the gold and precious stones, 
the temples and palaces — opened to his countrymen a vision 
of magnificence which captivated their imagination. 

13. The Problem of India. Trade between Italy and India 
had long been carried on by the Arabs over caravan routes 
through western Asia. In the fifteenth century, however. 



8 AMERICAN HISTORY 

the Turks, rude soldiers who despised commerce, conquered 
most of the Arabian world. They even entered Europe and in 
1453 fixed their capital at Constantinople. By these Turkish 
conquests overland trade between Europe and India was 
practically abolished. Thereupon, throughout Italy the ques- 
tion was eagerly discussed : How can trade with India be re- 
covered ? 

At this juncture the scientists of Italy came to the assistance 
of the traders. They had long since convinced themselves that 
the earth is not flat and stationary, as their fathers had sup- 
posed, but a great ball whirling on a vast orbit around the sun. 
At Florence, in 1470, the famed astronomer, Toscanelli, 
calculated the circumference of the earth and got it almost 
right. Thus was revealed the fact that any spot on the earth 
may be reached round the earth's circle, either by going east 
or by going west. 

14. Columbus. Who first suggested that India might be 
reached by going west we do not know. Perhaps it was Tos- 
canelli. Perhaps it was a still more celebrated Italian, a 
sailor of Genoa, Christopher Columbus. Perhaps it was 
some one whose name has been forgotten. At any rate, in the 
year 1474 the king of Portugal was consulting Toscanelli — 
" taking expert advice," as we should say to-day — for a full 
statement of his views on the subject. The great Columbus 
was then in the employ of Portugal. It is not unlikely, 
therefore, that it was Columbus who suggested to the king to 
write to Toscanelli, and that the astronomer merely passed 
judgment on the scheme of the sailor. But it is certain that 
he approved. Letters passed between him and Columbus, 
and the astronomer sent the sailor a map, together with calcu- 
lations of the probable position of India on the globe of the 
earth. 

What did we say about the European and the Asiatic 
looking in each other's direction round the earth's ball, and 
never suspecting the unknown land, America, in between? 
Of course neither Columbus nor Toscanelli dreamed of such 



THE PROLOGUE TO AMERICAN HISTORY . 9 

a place. Their information as to the distance overland 
through Asia to India was vague. The best they could do 
was to take the circumference of the earth as calculated by 
Toscanelli, subtract from it what they beheved to be the dis- 
tance eastward to India, and conclude that the remainder was 
the distance westward. This they did. The result persuaded 
both men that the most advantageous commercial route to 
India lay directly west across the Atlantic Ocean. 




THE TOSCANELLI MAP 

The outline of the Western Continent is in black dots, showing its actual position. 
The black line shows the voyage of Columbus. 

15. The African Route. But there was a rival opinion. 
Others held that if they could find a way southeastward 
round Africa, it would prove to be much shorter than the 
westward way advocated by Columbus and Toscanelli. After 
wavering some time, the king of Portugal turned against 
Columbus and adopted the opposite view. Columbus, in 
disgust, left the country and went to Spain. There, in 1487, 
he had news that troubled him. Until then many people had 
believed that Africa extended to the South Pole. The news 
which startled Columbus was the discovery by Bartholomew 



lo AMERICAN HISTORY 

Diaz, a Portuguese, of the Cape of Good Hope. This meant 
that Africa did not extend to the Pole, that to the south of 
it was an open sea road to India. 

16. The Appeals of Columbus. Columbus saw that he must 
be up and doing. Presently, if he did not contrive to prove 
his own theory, all Europe would be sending ships southeast- 
ward round the Cape to India, and no one would be willing 
to risk the cost of an expedition due west. He now set to 
work to canvass the states of Europe for financial backing. 
For four years he sought it in vain. Portugal, Spain, France, 
England, were all too busy to give heed to him. In 1492 for 
the second time Columbus appealed to Spain. Some great 
men in Spain who had become interested in Columbus en- 
Usted on his behalf the sympathies of the queen, Isabella of 
Castile. His scheme was presented to her as the means to a 
great campaign of foreign missions. As such the good queen 
became interested in it. Finally, she agreed to supply Colum- 
bus with the ships and men for which he asked. 

17. The Voyage of Columbus. On the third of August, 
1492, from Palos in Spain Columbus set sail. He had three 
ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. They were 
no bigger than fishing smacks of to-day, and on board them all 
were but ninety men. 

From Palos they sailed to the Canary Islands, the most 
westerly land then known to Europeans. Five weeks after 
their departure from Palos, they left the Canaries and stood 
boldly forth upon an unknown sea. For thirty-three days 
they were out of sight of land. The sailors became mutinous 
and Columbus had great difficulty in keeping them from turn- 
ing back. At length, on the morning of Friday, October 12, 
1492, land was sighted. 

Columbus, writing of his discovery, says, " I gave (it) the 
name of San Salvador, in commemoration of his Divine 
Majesty who has wonderfully granted all this. The Indians 
call it Guanaham." 



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THE PROLOGUE TO AMERICAN HISTORY n 

IV. THE RUSH TO THE NEW WORLD 

18. The Indies. Though Columbus had found a new world 
he had no comprehension of what he had done. In his own 
eyes he had merely visited islands off the coast of India. 
He therefore named his discoveries, " the Indies." We know 
to-day that he had visited the Bahama Islands and cruised 
along the shores of Cuba and Hayti. Curiously enough, 




THE LENOX GLOBE (1510) SHOWING THE NEW WORLD AS AN ISLAND OFF 
THE COAST OF ASIA 

it is not known with certainty which island it was that he saw 
first and named San Salvador. Probably it was what we 
now call Watling Island. 

19. America and the Fortune Hunters. The news brought 
home by Columbus made an immense sensation. At once 
bold adventurers turned westward to make their fortunes. 
Every needy gentleman of Spain began to dream of golden 
cities waiting to be plundered by Europeans. There followed 



12 AMERICAN HISTORY 

a succession of exploits, so daring that they take away one's 
breath, and so fruitful in plunder that the Spaniards passed, 
at one step, from the poorest to the richest of European 
peoples. 

Columbus himself did not share in this vast but ill-gotten 
wealth. Though he made three more voyages, he never 
found the way to the rich parts of America. He died in 1506, 
poor and disappointed, unaware that his " Indies " were not a 
part of Asia. 

Soon, however, the Spaniards began to find what they 
sought. Hernando Cortez made his way into the heart of 
the Mexican dominions, fought a terrible battle among the 
canals of the capital, and established there the authority of 
the king of Spain. Peru was found and conquered by Fran- 
cisco Pizarro. Many others, scarcely less audacious, followed 
the lead of these two. Before long all the temples and palaces 
of Mexico, Yucatan, and Peru had been stripped of their gold 
and silver by the Spaniards. The native Americans, over- 
awed by the steel-clad Europeans, were driven to work their 
own mines for the benefit of the strangers. So hard were 
they driven that they died in great numbers, and negro slaves 
were brought from Africa to take their places. Meanwhile, 
from Mexico, Central America, Peru, year after year, ships 
laden with gold and silver went across the sea to the king of 
Spain. The riches they bore were too vast for us to form any 
just estimate of them. 

20. Significance of the New World. From the day Colum- 
bus returned to Palos, America has been a prime factor in 
European politics. From the very start it was looked upon 
by Europe as a vast reservoir of wealth. Before long the 
most vigorous European races were competing with each other 
for the control of America. Spain and Portugal instantly 
became rivals in this new field of speculation ; but soon France, 
England, and, a little later, Holland boldly demanded a 
share in the New World. During the hundred years following 
the voyage of Coumbus there was no more \4tal issue before 



THE PROLOGUE TO AMERICAN HISTORY 13 

the world than this : Shall Spain be allowed to keep the 
whole of America, or shall other nations be allowed a share 
of the immense treasure contained in the New World ? 

21. Spain and Portugal. A contest between the Spaniards 
and Portugese in America was prevented by Pope Alexander VI, 
who decreed that the whole world, for purposes of colonization, 
should be divided into two hemispheres separated by a north 
and south line through the Atlantic Ocean. Spain was to 
colonize the western hemisphere ; Portugal, the eastern. 
Later ^ it was decided that the line should run " from pole to 
pole, three hundred and seventy leagues west from the Cape 
Verde Islands." Brazil was afterward allotted to Portugal 
because it was found to extend east of the dividing line. 

22. England follows Spain. The success of Spain in 
America roused the English king, Henry VII. In 1497 he 
sent out John Cabot, a Venetian, " to discover any heathen 
regions which up to this time have remained unknown to 
Christians." Cabot came home the next year and reported 
that he had reached the "territory of the Grand Chan" and 
that it was seven hundred leagues west of England. He doubt- 
less touched North America, and, like Columbus, thought he 
had reached Asia. His son, Sebastian, is supposed to have 
made a second voyage westward and to have explored the 
American coast as far south as Virginia ; but of this second 
voyage of the Cabots we know little with certainty. What- 
ever the Cabots discovered, England was not yet ready to 
take possession of it, and therefore their discoveries were not 
followed up. 

23. France enters the New World. France also made a 
prompt attempt to compete with Spain. Her first explorer 
was an Italian, Verrazano, who probably sailed along the same 
coast explored by the Cabots. It is generally thought that 
he entered New York harbor. But the first great achievement 
of the French in the West was the discovery of the St. Law- 
rence River by Jacques Cartier in 1535. 

^ By the Treaty of Tordesillas between Spain and Portugal, 1494. 



14 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



24. The Struggle among the Nations. The inevitable 
warfare among the nations over America began in 1565. A 
party of Frenchmen had formed a settlement on the St. 
Johns River in Florida. Almost at the same time the conquest 
of Florida was undertaken by a Spaniard, Pedro Menendcz, 
who in 1565 founded the city of St. Augustine.^ Thence he 
marched against the French on the St. Johns. Taking them 




SPANISH FORT, ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA 

by surprise, Menendez killed every man and boy over fifteen 
years of age, except a few who escaped to the surrounding 
forest. That was the end of French settlement in the South. 
25. The Fury of the Conquest. That savage butchery 
near St. Augustine struck the keynote of the struggle among 
the nations for the New World. It was war to the knife. 

' St. Augustine, Florida, is the oldest city within the limits of the present 
United States, but a number of places, now part of our country, were visited 
by Spaniards during the sixteenth century. As early as 1513 Ponce de Leon 
visited Florida. The Gulf coast was explored by Pineda in 1519. The Missis- 
sippi was partially ex[ilorcd by Ferdinand de Soto in 1541. The town of Santa 
Fe was founded as early as 1605, possibly much earlier. There were also 
expeditions along the coast of California and as far north as Puget Sound. 




EARLY VOYAGES 

TO AMERICA 



SCALE OF MILES 



1 Lief 1000 

2Zeno 

SColumbus's 1st Voyage 1492 

2nd •• M93-96 

5 Cabots li97-98 

6 Vespucius for Spain 1199 

7 Columbus-s 3rd Voyage 1498 00 

8 Cabral 1500 

9 Vespucius for Portugal 1501-02 

10 Columbuss 4th Voyage 1602-04 

11 Pineda 1519 

12 Magellan 1519-22 

13 Verrazano 1524 

11 Cartier'8 First Voyage 1634-35 
15 •• Second •• 1535-36 



IS 



i6 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Never was Europe more fiercely divided than in the latter 
part of the sixteenth century ; never have the nations struggled 
more cruelly to destroy each other. And never have men 
been animated by such vehement and contradictory motives. 
It was an age of religious wars, when faith, patriotism, specula- 
tion, Hcentiousness, all clashed, sometimes in the same indi- 
vidual, with terrible results. Our present standards of right 
and wrong seem hardly to apply to the sixteenth century. 
Through all that turmoil of desperate competition emerged the 
ruthless warfare of two great nations to possess America. 

26. France loses her Chance. It might be expected, from 
what has been said of Florida, that the chief rivals for America 
would be France and Spain. But such was not the case. 
France, at a crisis in her career when an American empire was 
within her grasp, was rendered impotent by civil war, long, 
desperate, and exhausting. The people who now rushed into 
the field for a duel to the death with Spain were the English. 

V. SPAIN AND ENGLAND 

27. England enters the Field. The English took up the 
matter in earnest in 1566. A charter was granted by Parlia- 
ment to Sir Humphrey Gilbert and others, who were to form a 
company to trade with India. The aim of Gilbert was to 
find a "northwest passage " round America through the Arctic 
Sea. By this time people had formed fairly correct ideas 
about the geography of the New World. ^ As early as 15 13 
Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and discovered the 
Pacific Ocean. Somewhat later the famous navigator 
Magellan set out on a voyage which ended in the first com- 
plete circumnavigation of the globe. The old notion that 

^ The name "America" was adopted graduallj'. It is derived from Americus 
Vespucius, a Venetian geographer, who made several voyages in the service of 
Spain and Portugal between the years 1499 and 1507. His writings made an 
impression, and in 1507 an Alsatian geographer coined the word "Amerige," 
that is, the land of Americus, or America. At first the word was applied only 
to the eastern part of South America. Gradually it came to have the signifi- 
cance it has to-day 



THE PROLOGUE TO AMERICAN HISTORY 17 

America was part of Asia was now done away with. There- 
fore the English dreamed of finding the " northwest passage " 
to India. For a while, however, nothing came of the plans 
of Gilbert. 

28. Sir John Hawkins. A typical Englishman of that day 
was Sir John Hawkins. In him the strange contradictions of 
his time were incarnate. Though he doubtless considered 
himself a good Christian, he combined in one business slave- 
trading, smuggling, and piracy. The slaves he kidnaped in 
Africa. But the only market for slaves was in the West 

Nuc iro 6^ h^ partes funt latius luftratje/S^ alia 
quaf ta pars per Americu Ve{putiu(vt ix\ fequenti 
bus audietur)inuenta eft/qua non video cur qm's 
iure vetet'ab Amerko inuentore fagacis ingeni] vi 
to Amerigen quafi Americi terra / fiue Americam 
dicenda: 

Facsimile of part of the page in Martin Waldseemiiller's CosmographicB Iniroductio, 1507, 
which contains the first printed suggestion of the name America. 

Indies, whence English ships were excluded by Spanish law. 
To get rid of his slaves Hawkins boldly sailed into Spanish 
ports and sold them to whomever would buy. Naturally 
Hawkins was sought after by Spanish ships of war. However, 
the English had learned how to build better ships than the 
Spanish, — ships that could sail faster and were quicker in 
all their movements. England teemed with such men as 
Hawkins, men who delighted to take their lives in their hands 
and run great risks on the chance of enormous gain. With a 
good English ship and a reckless English crew, Hawkins 
proved too much for any Spanish force he ever met, except 
on one dreadful occasion. In 1568, while in the harbor of 
Vera Cruz, Hawkins with five English ships was surrounded 
by thirteen ships of Spain. The battle which followed, 
considered merely as gallant fighting, is one of the brilliant 
things in history. Though so fearfully outnumbered, the 



i8 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



English were not quite beaten. A great part of their force, it 
is true, were killed or taken prisoner, but the commander with 
two ships fought his way through the Spanish fleet and escaped. 

29. The Feeling between England and Spain. Even 
before then hatred had been engendered between England 
and Spain, due partly to conflicting principles in poHtics and 
reHgion, partly to commercial jealousy. Subsequent to 1568 

their hatred became intense. 
The English accused the 
Spaniards of having deceived 
Hawkins previous to the bat- 
tle at Vera Cruz by a sol- 
emn promise that he should 
not be molested there. They 
also circulated horrible sto- 
ries of the tortures of the 
English prisoners in Spain. 
To all this Spain made the 
simple answer : These men 
were pirates, defying the 
laws of Spain within the 
Spanish empire. And Queen 
Elizabeth, much as she s^Tnpathized with her own people, 
could not deny that Hawkins in Mexico was a trespasser. 

30. The Policy of Elizabeth. Although Elizabeth could not 
openly take sides with Hawkins, she secretly encouraged him. 
Other Englishmen followed his example, and the queen, in 
spite of numerous protests from Spain, refused to treat them 
as pirates. Her motive was twofold. Being a farsighted 
statesman, she saw that America was the key to the future, 
that whoever controlled the treasures of America would play a 
leading part in Europe. Furthermore, England, once a 
first-class power, ^ had sunk to a secondary position. It was 

' During the Middle Ages England rose to the high position of chief power 
in the west of Europe. Henry V, called "the Napoleon of the Middle Ages," 
was the mightiest sovereign of his time. Under him England was at the head of 




"-^.m^ii 



THE PROLOGUE TO AMERICAN HISTORY 19 

a passion with Elizabeth and all her people to restore England 
to its old importance. But if they did that, Spanish ascend- 
ancy in Europe ^ would be threatened. They judged correctly 
that Spain would make every effort to prevent the return of 
England to a place among the great powers. Therefore they 
concentrated their energies in a fixed determination to under- 
mine the strength of Spain. 

31. The Revolt of the Netherlands. They had a great 
chance in 1576. In that year the Netherlands (see footnote 
below) seceded and formed a separate government. Relent- 
less war was the result. The Dutch appealed to England. 
But Elizabeth was not quite ready for open war with Spain. 
She refused to become the confessed ally of the Nether- 
lands, although in secret she ser^t them both money- and 
soldiers. 

32. Sir Francis Drake. She took a similar course for 
some ten years longer with regard to the Indies. While 
denying that she was an enemy of Spain, she shut her eyes 
to numerous depredations upon Spanish commerce com- 
mitted by Englishmen. The most famous exploit of this 

an empire. But soon after his death, from a variety of causes, her power de- 
dined, her imperial position was lost, and finally civil war — the brutal Wars of 
the Roses — paralyzed her strength. She relapsed into the class of the minor 
powers. From this position Elizabeth raised her again to the first rank. 

^ The Spanish kingdom had been raised to imperial position partly by acci- 
dent, partly by diplomatic ability, partly by military genius. The all-important 
accident was the finding of America by the Spaniards when they were seeking 
for something else. Their chief diplomatic triumphs were two. By a marriage 
between the heiress of Spain and the heir of the House of Hapsburg, Spain and 
the Netherlands were united and Spanish influence made predominant in Ger- 
many. Carlos I, of Spain, son of the Hapsburg marriage, was chosen emperor 
by the German states and reigned as Charles V. Though the imperial crown 
was not continued in the Spanish branch of the Hapsburg family, the prestige 
thus acquired by Spain was not dimmed when the son of Charles became king 
as Philip II. Under Charles and Philip Spanish diplomacy won a second great 
triumph. This consisted in appropriating to Spain the position of leader and 
protector of all the Catholic states of Europe. The military genius of Spain had 
been developed in centuries of war with the Moors. It bore fruit in the re- 
nowned Spanish infantry, whose achievements on the field of battle may com- 
pare with those of the greatest military races of the world. 



20 AMERICAN HISTORY 

sort was the voyage around the world of Sir Francis Drake.^ 
Drake had been with Hawkins at Vera Cruz, where he com- 
manded one of the two ships that escaped. Since then he 
had outdone his commander in the boldness of his looting 
in the West Indies. He had brought home whole shiploads 
of gold, silver, and rich merchandise. In the year 1577, with 
the secret approval of the queen, but without official warrant, 
Drake set sail on the most famous of his voyages. What was 
done on that voyage makes reading that is like the " Arabian 
Nights." In the report of his booty we read of " thirteen 
chests full of royals of plate, four score pound weight of gold 
and six and twenty tunne of silver." This was taken from 
Spaniards at the mouth of the cannon. Drake's ships were so 
swift, and so well handled that when Spanish ships were too 
strong for him he easily outsailed them and got away. When 
he was their match in cannon, he overhauled them and took 
all their treasure. One ship taken on its way home from the 
Philippines was worth a million dollars. 

33. England attempts Colonization. This piratical record 
is nobly broken by the first English attempt at genuine colo- 
nization. In 1578 Sir Humphrey Gilbert made a vain en- 
deavor to plant a colony in Newfoundland. Gilbert was 
a brave, high-minded gentleman, and his death in a storm 
that wrecked a later expedition (1583) was a loss to the 
world. 

34. Second English Attempt. Gilbert's half brother, Sir 
Walter Raleigh, a few years later made a similar attempt. 
The queen gave him warrant to colonize " remote heathen 
and barbarous lands . . . not actually possessed by any 
Christian Prince." Raleigh sent out an expedition which 
planted a settlement, and the queen showed her interest by 
naming the country Virginia — for herself, the " Virgin 
Queen." However, Raleigh's attempt failed miserably. His 

1 Drake effected a landing in a harbor of the west coast of what is now the 
territory of the United States. Very probably that harbor was the Bay of San 
Francisco. See section 516. 



BREYJS XX ACTAO, TO-nV !> >^OVl OKBIS lltSCX •r7BVlA?.V^i TJHSCRIPTIO J«£GEW5 A lOAV F.UU ROIDk^ 







5^iSrr'HSl«\ 







EUROPEAN CONCEPTION OF AMERICA, MIDDLE OF SIXTEENTH CENTURY 
From a map of Joan BeUerus, 1555. 



21 



22 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



colonists disappeared, and to this day we do not know what 
became of them.^ 

35. War between England and Spain. We come now to 
the year 1588. Philip II saw that the time had come for him 
to attack England. In fact, the EngUsh, now prepared for 
war, were thrusting it upon him. He accepted their challenge 
and sent against them a vast fleet, called by the Spaniards 
the " Invincible Armada." 

36. England strikes a New Note. Up to this point, the 
story of the struggle between England and Spain has been 

thronged with contradictions. 
Courage and duplicity, mental 
greatness and moral baseness, 
splendid faithfulness to one's 
friends and utter barbarity to 
one's enemies, these are the 
irreconcilable things that meet 
us at every turn. So sharply 
do they contradict each other 
that we know not what to say 
in judgment of that startling 
age. At last, something comes 
before us that is unquestion- 
ably noble in every way. At 
the supreme moment the Eng- 
lish people took a stand for a new idea, destined to be the 
shaping principle in the formation of a New World. Hitherto 
the world had been shaped politically, in no small measure, 
by the ideas of the later Roman empire. One of these was 
the idea that religion should be under state control. The 
Spaniards in their political thinking imitated the Romans. 




REGION OF RALEIGH'S SETTLEMENT 



' The site of Raleigh's settlement is on Roanoke Island, North Carolina. He 
sent over three relays of colonists — in 1585, 1586, and 1587. The third was com- 
manded by John White. It comprised one hundred and fifty people, including 
seventeen women. The first American child of English blood was born in this 
fated colony of Roanoke. She was named Virginia Dare. 




DRAKE REPAIRING HIS SHIP 



THE PROLOGUE TO AMERICAN HISTORY 23 

In their country they allowed no one to hold any religious 
views not authorized by the government. Abroad their dip- 
lomats had sought to make their religion a means for advanc- 
ing the interests of Spain. They had skillfully undermined 
the influence of France and had set Spain in the place of 
France at the head of the CathoHc world. They now at- 
tempted to use their religion as a political weapon in the 
attack on England. PhiHp II appealed to the English Catho- 
lics to look upon him, not as the invader of their country, 
but as the champion of their faith. Had the Catholics of 
England met him in that spirit, the war of 1588 would have 
had only political significance ; but what was done by Enghsh 
Catholics ^ that year opened splendidly a new chapter in the 
evolution of human freedom. 

Elizabeth offered the command of the English navy, the 
supreme responsibility for the defense of England, to a great 
Catholic nobleman, Charles, Lord Howard, of Effingham.^ 
Lord Howard accepted that great trust. In the council of 
war which he held at Plymouth Catholics and Protestants 
worked side by side, all eager to resist the invaders. It was 
the first demonstration, on a great scale, of the principle that 
religion and politics should be separate. To-day, as we look 
back, we regard the year 1588 not merely as the point of con- 
flict of two great races, but as the opening of a war between 
two ideas. The most far-reaching issue of the moment was 
the question whether the new states to be formed in America 
should be molded on the ancient despotic principle of a rigid 
state with a fixed standard of belief, or on the modern principle 

^ The word "Catholic," especially when modified by the adjective "English," 
has given rise to acrimonious disputes. It is used here with no doctrinal inti- 
mation, but merely as the label of a certain group of people living in 1588. It 
is the label which they used themselves, and which is popularly understood 
to-day. 

^ Some recent writers deny that he was a Catholic. However, even if they 
make good their contention, the main point is not affected. No one questions 
the gallant loyalty to the Crown of many powerful Catholics. See Lingard, 
"History of England," and "The National Dictionary of Biography" for the 
course taken by Lord Montague. 



24 AMERICAN HISTORY 

of an elastic state, in which beHef is a personal matter, unin- 
fluenced by the government. All subsequent history would 
have been different had Spain succeeded in making the latter 
principle dominant over North America. 

37. The Arrival of the Armada. Spain was not destined 
to do this, however. In midsummer, 1588, the Invincible 
Armada was sighted off the southwest coast of England. 
It was saiUng in the form of a half moon, seven miles across. 
Lord Howard and his fleet were then at Plymouth. With him 
was almost every noted seaman England had. There were 
Drake, Raleigh, Hawkins, and many more. It had been the 
business of Howard to combine all these into a great fighting 
force that should be too strong for Spain. Very ably had he 
done his work. The fleet he led forth out of Plymouth harbor 
was probably the finest the world had seen since the day the 
Greek triremes went forth against Xerxes. The battle which 
followed was the greatest sea fight since that of Salamis. 

38. The Battle of the Channel. With a cool audacity that 
must have amazed the Spaniards, Howard allowed them to 
pass him. But no sooner had they done so, than he revealed 
his plan of battle. He meant to hang on their flanks all 
the way up the Channel,^ and derange their formation by de- 
grees. The English sliips were smaller than the Spanish, but 
more numerous. They were much swifter, were better able 
to turn and double, and were far more skillfully handled. 
They might be likened to a pack of wolves attacking a herd of 
elephants. The wolves were as quick as thought ; if an 
elephantine Spanish ship lumbered out of Hne, some of the 
nimble httle English ships dashed in, surrounded it, forced 
it away from its fellows, and destroyed it. So the battle 
raged all the way to the Straits of Dover. Long before 
they reached the straits, the Spaniards were on the verge of 
demoralization. 

' The Spaniards intended to make a landing in Flanders, take on board a 
great army, and then proceed to England. See Hakluyt (Everyman edition), 

n, 369. 



THE PROLOGUE TO AMERICAN HISTORY 25 

39. The Battle of the Straits. On the night of July 28 
the Armada had sought shelter in the harbor of Calais, and 
Howard made ready for his final attack. In the darkness of 
the night eight fire ships were set adrift on the rising tide, 
which bore them straight toward the Armada. To escape 
these, the Spaniards hoisted anchor and hurried out to sea. 
The next day the two fleets closed with each other in a struggle 
to the death. By nightfall the Armada was hopelessly de- 
feated. 

" We are lost," cried its commander, the Duke of Medina 
Sidonia. And indeed they were. That was the last great 
deed of the old Spanish empire. The ancient principle had 
lost in the duel for the New World. The modern principle 
had won. 

Selections from the Sources. Bureau of Ethnology, Bulletin No. 30, 
American Indians; Charnay, Ancient Cities of the New World; 
American History Leaflets, No. 3 (for Icelandic Sagas) ; Major, 
Select Letters of Columbus; Jameson, Original Narratives of American 
History; the volumes on The Northmen, Columbus and Cabot, edited 
by Olson and Bourne ; The Spanish Explorers in the Southern 
United States, edited by Hodge ; and Early English and French 
Voyages, edited by Burrage; Hart, History told by Contem- 
poraries, I, Nos. 16-43; Hakluyt, Principal Navigations. (At 
the end of the sixteenth century Richard Hakluyt brought together this 
great collection, which has become a classic. Every young American 
should taste the flavor of Elizabethan adventure, at first hand, by 
reading a portion of Hakluyt.) 

Secondary Accounts. Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, II; 
III, 1-126; IV, 1-103; Markham, Christopher Columbus; Prescott, 
The Conquest of Peru, and The Conquest of Mexico; Parkman. Pioneers 
of France in the New World; Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic; 
CoRBETT, Sir Francis Drake; Creighton, Sir Walter Raleigh; Fiske, 
The Discovery of America. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. Ancient American Life. 2. The 
Norse in America. 3. The Zeno Brothers. 4. Columbus. 5. Growth 
of the Idea that America was not a part of Asia. 6. The Elizabethan 
Sea Rovers. 7. The Spanish Empire under Philip II. 8. Raleigh's 
Colony. 



FIRST PERIOD (1606-1658) 
THE FOUNDATIONS OF AMERICANISM 

CHAPTER II 

THE BEGINNINGS OF VIRGINIA 

40. The Spanish War. England and Spain were at war foi 
fifteen years after the defeat of the Armada. Until the close 
of the war, the EngHsh made no further attempt to colonize 
North America, but no sooner was peace made than they began 
to colonize. They had a wildly false idea of the wealth of 
" Virginia." ^ In a drama ^ of the day, one of the characters 
speaks of Virginia as a place where " gold and silver are as 
common as copper is with us." 

41. The First Settlement. In May, 1607, one hundred 
and four men ^ were landed from English ships on a marshy 

' At first the name was applied vaguely to all that part of the Atlantic sea- 
board which Englishmen had explored. In 1606 the English claimed the sea- 
board from 34° to 45° north latitude. In that year two companies were organized 
under a charter of James I providing for the colonization of " that part of America 
commonly called Virginia." One of these companies, known as the London 
Company, succeeded in colonizing what we now call Virginia. Hence this 
company is frequently, though not with strict accuracy, called "The Virginia 
Company." The other, the Plymouth Company, proved unsuccessful. Each 
company was given permission to choose a "fit and convenient place" for its 
first settlement and to occupy thereabouts a region 100 miles square. The 
London Company was required to locate somewhere between 34° and 41°; the 
Plymouth Company between 38° and 45°. Thus each was allowed a "sphere 
of influence," as perhaps we might say, from which the other was e.xcluded, 
while an intermediate area was open to both. See the admirable discussion in 
Osgood, "Colonies," I. 

* " Eastward Hoe," by Chapman, Marston, and Ben Jonson. It was acted in 
the winter of 1604- 1605. 

* Sent out by the London, or Virginia, Company. See note i, above. 

26 



THE BEGINNINGS OF VIRGINIA 



27 



peninsula that juts out into the James River. There they 
founded Jamestown, naming it for the new king, James I, 
who had succeeded Elizabeth. Seldom have hopeful dreamers 
met with more crushing disappointment. Instead of golden 
cities and teeming mines like those of Mexico and Peru, they 
found only low stretches of alternate forest and river, millions 
of mosquitoes, and naked 











Indians, fierce, capable, 
and hostile. Within two 
weeks the Indians at- 
tacked them and they 
had to fight hard for 
their lives. The effort 
to secure food proved a 
bitter struggle, and be- 
fore long fever, due to 
their swampy location, 
made its appearance. 

They were sustained 
by the dauntless will and 
buoyant temperament of 
their commander. Cap- 
tain John Smith. This 
remarkable man has left 
us an account of his ad- 
ventures, among which 
is the famous incident 
of the Indian maiden 
Pocahontas. Smith's narrative represents him as having been 
a prisoner among the Indians, who had decided to beat out his 
brains. But just as a powerful Indian swung up his club to 
make an end of the stranger, Pocahontas, the daughter of the 
chief of the tribe, sprang between them, threw her arms 
around Smith's neck, and refused to move until her father 
promised to spare him. This incident has become one of 
the few traditions of the whole American people. Perhaps 




"THE TOWNE OF SECOTA" 

Picture of an Indian village drawn by John White 
in 1585 and incorporated in a report to Sir 
Walter Raleigh. The original is one of a 
series preserved in the British Museum. 



28 AMERICAN HISTORY 

it gives us an insight into Smith's character, with some inkling 
of how he managed to keep up the spirits of the desperate 
men at Jamestown during its terrible beginning. During two 
years and a half, out of six hundred and thirty colonists who 
came over, five hundred and seventy perished. A merely 
stern man could not have inspired those unhappy people to 
keep up their dreary struggle. Reading between the hnes of 
Smith's narrative, we seem to catch a glimpse of grim humor 
in the commander, of a deep, rough joyousness, of a large 
delight in danger, which may well have been the one ray of 
sunshine illuminating the darkness of early Jamestown.^ 

42. The Starving Time. The lowest ebb of the fortunes of 
the colony was the winter of 1 609-1610. It is known as 
" the starving time." Smith had gone back to England, and 
without his powerful will to keep them at work, and his im- 
mense cheerfulness to sustain their spirits, the colonists lost 
heart altogether. The severity of the winter, the scarcity of 
food, and the attacks of the Indians drove them to despair. 
In the spring of 16 10 there were but sixty left at Jamestown. 
These survivors decided to abandon the settlement. They 
actually went aboard ship and set sail, but before they cleared 
the mouth of the James River they were met by Lord Delaware 
with three ships bringing them ample supplies. Joyfully 
they faced about and went back to Jamestown. 

43. Despotism at Jamestown. As it turned out, however, 
they had escaped one species of torment only to become 
the victims of another. To keep them in subjection there was 
promulgated a brutal code afterward known as " Dale's laws." 
As a specimen of what resulted may be cited the case of a 
man who stole a calf and fled to the Indians : he was sentenced 
to death. Speaking of Dale's laws^ a noted historian says,^ 

' See Osgood, "The American Colonies," I, 38-45. 

* "Articles, Laws and Orders, Divine, Politique and Martial for the govern- 
ment of Virginia" (Force's Tracts, III). This code expressed, in part, "the 
stern and energetic spirit of Governor Dale " (Osgood, " Colonies," I, 69), who 
now became the ruler at Jamestown. 

' Channing, "History," I, 183. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF VIRGINIA 29 

" The knife, the lash, the galleys, and the gallows met the 
offender at every turn." Furthermore the early colonists 
were not permitted to own land. The authorities managed 
the colony upon what was known as " the plantation system," 
which was carried out " with great rigor, the colonists working 
in gangs under officials acting as overseers, eating at a common 
table and living in common barracks." ^ 

44. Virginia as a Business Proposition. It must be under- 
stood that the colonization of Virginia had been undertaken 
by a great commercial company in England for business 
reasons. As we have seen, its members had misapprehended 
the situation, and their venture threatened to end in total loss. 
About 161 5 certain capitalists who controlled the Virginia 
Company^ decided that some new move must be made to 
arouse fresh interest in the colony. The course adopted by 
them involved Virginia in the complex tangle of English 
politics, at which we must now glance. 

45. The English Liberals. In 16 14 James I dissolved 
Parliament, which did not meet again until 162 1. Previous 
to the dissolution, a group of broad-minded politicians had 
busied themselves advocating those principles of religious 
and political freedom which, to-day, we take for granted, but 

1 Osgood, "American Colonies," I, 63-64, 75. Somewhat later some of the 
colonists were permitted to become tenants of particular pieces of land for which 
they paid rent, using their labor during eleven months each year for its cultiva- 
tion. The labor of the twelfth month continued to be at the service of the 
authorities. 

2 Under the charter of 1 606 the king kept in his own hands the power to 
appoint the governing officers of the colony. The company received from him 
only the land and the control of trade. In 1609 the London (Virginia) Com- 
pany secured a new charter which separated it entirely from the Plymouth 
Company and added to its other privileges the right to appoint the rulers of 
the colony. Under this second charter, the boundaries of the colony were en- 
larged, so as to include all the coast two hundred miles north and two hundred 
miles south of Point Comfort "up into the land throughout, from sea to sea, 
west and northwest." The ultimate governing body of Virginia now became 
the "Council" of the Company, meeting periodically in London. A third 
charter in 161 2 confirmed and extended the privileges of the second charter. 
See note 2, p. 26. 



30 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



which were then new. The chief of the Liberals was Sir 
Edwin Sandys. His close comrade was Henry, Earl of 
Southampton, the famous friend of Shakespeare. Nicholas 
Ferrar, one of the most lovable men in Enghsh history, was 
also of the group. They met with powerful opposition from 

the king and from a 
strong party that 
beUeved in despot- 
ism and steadily 
supported James. 
When Parhament 
was dissolved, these 
reformers lost their 
field of action, and 
this may account 
for the fact that 
they turned at once 
to the business of 
colonization. Per- 
haps they thought 
they could best ce- 
ment their party 
by putting its prin- 
ciples into practice 
in the organization 
of a colony. Be 
that as it may, the 
English Liberals, after 1614, while Parhament was not in ses- 
sion, showed a marked increase of interest in Virginia. 

In this fact the capitahsts who controlled the Virginia 
Company saw their opportunity. They were headed by Sir 
Thomas Smith, ^ one of the richest men of his time, who prob- 
ably devised the shrewd scheme which he and his friends 
now put into operation. Though totally out of sympathy 




EARLY ROYAL GRANTS 

• (At least so the Virginia Company subsequently interpreted 
the grant which described their territory as extending " West 
and Northwest.") 



^ Never to be confused with John Smith. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF VIRGINIA 31 

with the Liberals pohtically,^ he wished to induce them to 
give their time and money to developing Virginia. Conse- 
quently he brought about a " deal," so to speak, by which the 
management of the Virginia Company was taken over by a 
group of Liberal poUticians, and Sir Edwin Sandys became 
the company's chief officer. 

46. Reforms of the Liberals. Immediately reforms began. 
The colonists were put on the footing of free citizens. It was 
made easy for thiem to become owners of the land they worked. 
Land was offered for sale in England. But perhaps the most 
striking detail of this revolution in the policy of the Company 
concerns a congregation of EngHsh Puritans^ then living at 
Leyden in Holland. We shall hear of them later as the 
" Pilgrims," and may as well call them by that name through- 
out. 

47. Religious Freedom Begins. In the previous chapter we 
beheld Englishmen, at a great crisis, forgetting their religious 
differences and remembering only that they were Englishmen. 
Unfortunately, the splendid impulse of 1588, which led 
Protestant and Catholic to lay aside their differences, was 
followed by a reaction. The older, despotic idea of state 
control over religion revived. When James I came to the 
throne, all the forces of reaction found in the new king their 
appropriate leader. He was narrow, self-opinionated, and 
obstinate. Liberals, of all persuasions, whether political or 
religious, he abhorred. Among other objects of his dislike 
was a small group of earnest people — the Pilgrims — who 
differed in theology from the Church of England. To escape 
the royal enmity they left England and found refuge in Holland. 
But these people longed to return to the shelter of the English 
flag. Thinking that there might now be a chance for them 
in Virginia, they applied to the Company, asking to be allowed 

^ During Smith's administration only members of the Church of England 
were tolerated in Virginia. An emigrant who could not satisfy the authorities 
as to his orthodoxy was flogged daily until he could. 

^ See section 64 for the place of the Puritans in English pohtics. 



32 AMERICAN HISTORY 

to settle there. Though Sandys and his associates were church- 
men, they warmly took up the cause of the Pilgrims and 
attempted to secure for them a guarantee of freedom of worship. 
But they had to deal with the king. The one restriction 
upon the political authority of the Company was that it should 
enact no law contradictory of any law of England. It could 
not guarantee religious freedom while there was an Enghsh 
law restraining it. The only concession the Liberals could 
secure from the king was a promise that if the Pilgrims went 
to Virginia and kept quiet he would not, for the present at 
least, put the laws in operation against them. This was not 
much of a concession, but it was something. It had great 
consequences of which we shall hear presently. 

48. Virginia's Magna Charta. What appeared at the time 
of far more importance to Virginia itself was a new system of 
government devised by the Liberals. Having abolished the 
despotism of the old order of things, they sent out to the 
officer who represented them as Governor of Virginia a famous 
set of Instructions. These Instructions have been called 
Virginia's Magna Charta. In obedience to them, Sir George 
Yeardley, in July, 1619, called together the first legislature of 
English America. There were now eleven settlements in 
Virginia. Each of these elected two " burgesses," and the 
twenty-two representatives met in the church at Jamestown. 
This was the opening of the Virginia House of Burgesses, which 
began at once to enact laws for the colony. American con- 
stitutional history began that day. 

49. The King against the Liberals. The course of the 
Liberals in their management of Virginia was watched by 
the king with jealous eyes. He spoke of the Company as a 
" Seminary of Sedition," meaning that Sandys and his party 
were there nursing into strength revolutionary ideas. At 
the Company's annual election in May, 1620, when officers^ 

' The Company's organization was similar to that of a modern stock company. 
The shareholders elected annually a "Council" or Board of Directors, and 
various oflicers, of whom the chief was known as treasurer. Sir Thomas 



THE BEGINNINGS OF VIRGINIA 



33 



were chosen for the ensuing year, James forbade the reelection 
of Sandys as head of the Company.^ There followed negotia- 
tions between the Liberals and the king during which James 
is said to have exclaimed, " Choose the devil if you will, but 
not Sir Edwin Sandys." He consented at last to a compromise. 

The Liberals retained control of the Company, but instead 
of Sandys they put into 
office Lord Southampton. 
Sandys, however, con- 
tinued in the background 
to be the real director of 
their policy. 

50. The Political Issues 
of 1620. The poHtical 
battle between Liberals 
and Reactionaries^ 
had now become gen- 
eral throughout England. 
The control of the Vir- 
ginia Company was but 
one of the several issues 
upon which the two par- 
ties clashed. In 1620 
the Liberals saw that if 
they wished to accomplish their purpose and make Virginia 
a free country, they must fight for their life, politically speak- 
ing, against the king and the Reactionaries. They faced 
their danger and prepared for a great poHtical struggle. At 




OLD BRICK CHURCH, ^L\K bMllHlIELD, 
VA., ERECTED IN 1632 



Smith served as treasurer many years. He was succeeded by Sandys, who 
was succeeded by Lord Southampton. 

1 The king submitted a Hst of names, in which Sandys' name did not occur, 
and commanded the Company to choose its head from that list. See Osgood, 
"Colonies," and Fiske, "Old Virginia," to understand how a party was drawn 
together, both within and without the Company, for the purpose of breaking 
the hold of the Liberals on Virginia. The matter is set forth in great detail 
by Alexander Brown, "First Republic in America." 

2 Thus we may label the opponents of the Liberals. 



34 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



this point let us leave them temporarily and pursue the for- 
tunes of their proteges, the Pilgrims. 

Selections from the Sources. John Smith, General Historie; Hart, 
American History told by Contemporaries, I, Nos. 47, 48, 50, 59, 61-65, 
82 ; Macdonald, Documentary Source Book of American History, for the 
three Virginian charters; Force's Tracts, III, for Dale's Laws; Sir 
Edwin Sandys, Survey of Religion in the Western World; The Records of 
the Virginia Company, edited by S. Kingsbury ; Tyler, Narratives of 
Early Virginia. 

Secondary Accounts. Gardiner, History of England, HI; Chan- 
NiNG, History of the United States, I, chaps, vi-viii; Fiske, Old 
Virginia and Her Neighbors, Vol. I; Osgood, The American Colonies in 
the Seventeenth Century, I, chaps, ii-iv; Beers, The Origins of the 
British Colonial System; Thwaites, Colonies, 38-74 ; Brown, First Re- 
public in America.- 

Topics for Special Reports, i . Motives of the English in colonizing 
Virginia. 2. Constitution of the Virginia Company. 3. John Smith. 
4. The Virginia Colony in 1615. 5. EngUsh PoHtics in 1615. 6. Sir 
Edwin Sandys. 



CHAPTER III 



THE COMMONWEALTH OF PLYMOUTH 



51. The Migration of the Pilgrims. For some seventy 
years (1620-1691) on the shores of Massachusetts Bay there 
was a httle commonwealth which had only a vague connection 
with the crown of England. This was the settlement of the 
Pilgrims. How it came to be there, what made it different 
from other places, and how it came to an end, let us now see. 

As we know, the original intention of the Pilgrims was to 
settle in Virginia. With that end in view a party of a hundred 
sailed in the Mayflower, September, 1620. But these en- 
thusiasts never reached Virginia. The voyage was a stormy 
one, and they were 
carried far out of their 
course. Early in No- 
vember they were off 
the coast of Cape Cod, 
where the captain of 
the Mayflower, in spite 
of their protests, in- 
sisted upon landing 
them. Thus they 
found themselves adrift 
politically in a part of 
the English dominions 
where they had not title 

to so much as a foot of land and where, as yet, there was no 
estabhshed government nor any settlement of Englishmen. 

52. The Mayflower Compact. Instinctively they formed 
a commonwealth. In the cabin of the Mayfloiver, November 
II, 1620, they signed a " compact," which is the first document 

35 




THE MAYFLOWER 



36 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



of its kind known to history. By their own deliberate act a 
group of men bound themselves to form a " civil body politic." 
They were to be governed according to the simple plan of 
majority rule. The whole body was to vote upon all pubHc 
questions. They also decided to have a governor regularly 
elected, and John Carver was chosen to be the first head of the 
commonwealth. However, they had no intention of doing 
anything in defiance of the English crown. In their compact 
they expressly stated that they were '' loyal subjects of our 
dread sovereign Lord, Ring James." 




After the painling by Bayes 
DEPARTURE OF THE MAYFLOWER 

On the shore of a harbor to which the name of Plymouth 
had been given by earlier voyagers the Pilgrims decided to fix 
their settlement. There they laid out the town of Plymouth. 
The landing was made on or near a great bowlder, known 
ever after as Plymouth Rock.^ 

53. Status of the Commonwealth. The surrounding 
country had been granted to an EngHsh company known as 



' The vicinity was free from Indians. A pestilence had recently depopulated 
it. Soon after the coming of the Pilgrims, however, a native "king," Massasoit, 
visited their settlement and concluded a treaty of peace and good will. 



THE COMMONWEALTH OF PLYMOUTH 



37 



the Council for New England.^ From this organization the 
Pilgrims made haste to secure a patent authorizing their 
settlement. 

However, it must be born in mind that this patent, like the 
one assigned them in Virginia, was merely a grant of land. It 
did not ratify the formation of the Plymouth commonwealth. 
It did not vest in the Pilgrims any powers of government. 
As a poHtical organization, the Plymouth commonwealth, in 
the eyes of the EngHsh courts, did not exist. The king could 
abolish it any moment he chose. At last the time came when 
a king of England chose to do so, and then the commonwealth 
of Plymouth vanished from the map. 

54. Characteristics of 
Plymouth. Thehttlere- 
pubHc — for such it prac- 
tically was — existed 
more than seventy years. 
During that time it was 
a bright spot amid so 
much that was dark in 
the history of the seven- 
teenth century. It was 
a land of peace and good 
will.2 

The most notable figure in the history of Plymouth is prob- 
ably the second governor, WilHam Bradford, whose ad- 
ministration lasted thirty years. He wrote an account of 
the commonwealth which is one of the precious documents of 

^ See note i, p. 26. That Plymouth Company created by the charter of 
1606 had lately been reorganized with the title, Council for New England. 
See Chapter IV. 

2 The investigations of recent years have convinced some students that the 
most striking instance of toleration at Plymouth was the attitude of the Pil- 
grims toward the renowned captain, Miles Standish. He was one of the signers 
of the compact of the Mayflower and served thereafter as general of the com- 
monwealth. His courage and ability contributed much to set the infant state 
on a firm foundation. According to a recent view, there is evidence that he 
was a Roman Catholic. 




THE STANDISH HOUSE, DUXBURY, MASS. 



38 AMERICAN HISTORY 

early American history. During Bradford's administration 
the men of Plymouth organized the first town meetings in 
America, making each town a pure democracy, and also set up 
a representative assembly for the whole state. 

Selections from the Sources. Macdonald, Documentary Source Book, 
for the Mayflower Compact ; Hart, Contemporaries, I, Nos. 97-104 ; 
Bradford, History of Plymouth (Original Narratives Series) ; Young, 
Chronicles of the Pilgrims. 

Secondary Accounts. FiSKE, Beginnings of New England; Osgood, 
The American Colonies, I, 105-119, 290-299; Channing, History, Vol. 

1, chap, xi ; Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, Vol. Ill, chaps, 
vii-viii ; Griffis, The Pilgrims in their Three Homes; Gardiner, 
History of England, Vol. Ill ; Doyle, The Puritan Colonies ; National 
Dictionary of Biography, article on Miles Standish ; Dexter, Story of the 
Pilgrims. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. The Separatist Movement before 1620. 

2. The Pilgrim State. 3. Relations between the Pilgrims and the 
Indians. 4. Miles Standish. 5. ReUgious Toleration at Plymouth. 



CHAPTER IV 

REACTION AGAINST THE LIBERAL GOVERNMENT OF VIRGINIA 

55. The Council for New England. We now return to the 
political battle in England to control the Virginia Company. 
Those members of the Company who were opposed to the 
Liberal faction appear about 1620 to have given up hope of 
wresting its management from the Liberals. They withdrew 
from the Company and by way of revenge set to work to 
destroy it.^ Some of them figured in a rival colonial organiza- 
tion of which we have already heard, the Council for New 
England.^ The king granted to it all America between the 
fortieth and forty-eighth parallels from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific.^ 

The purpose of the council was to organize its vast domain 
in a strictly aristocratic way. Many great nobles were 

1 Speaking of this secession of the anti-Sandys faction, the court book of the 
Company says, "The said Earl (of Warwick) . . . with others . . . have generally 
absented themselves from the Courts of the Company and . . . together with 
Sir Thomas Smith have also sold awaie their interest in Virginia." Kingsbury, 
"Records of the Virginia Company," II, 405. 

2 See notes, pp. 26, 36. The Plymouth Company had not prospered. In 
1607, under the auspices of Chief Justice Popham, it sent out an expedition 
which made a settlement on the Kennebec, in what is now Maine. One severe 
winter so disheartened the colonists that they gave up their attempt and returned 
home. In 1620 occurred the reorganization of the Plymouth Company as the 
Council for New England. See note, p. 36. 

^ The term " New England " was coined by Captain John Smith. In 1614, after 
he had given up the governorship of Virginia, he was sent out by the Plymouth 
Company to explore the northern coast. He made a fairly correct map of the 
coast line from Cape Cod to Maine. He gave Cape Ann, Charles River, and 
Plymouth Harbor the names they still retain. To the whole region he gave 
the name New England. 

It should be observed that the English crown by the grant to the Council 
for New England advanced the northern boundary of the region claimed by it 
from the forty-fifth degree north latitude to the forty-eighth. 

39 



40 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



interested in the project. There were the Dukes of Bucking- 
ham, Lenox, and Hamilton ; the Earls of Warwick, Salisbury, 
Pembroke, and Arundel. The Council was to be a self-per- 
petuating body of forty members, constituting the supreme 
legislature of New England. It proposed to divide its terri- 
tories into feudal principalities, to be held under the king 
precisely as were the great feudal estates in England and 
Scotland. In 162 1 there was drawn up a scheme of gov- 
ernment which provided that 
" authority in all cases was to 
proceed from above downward." ^ 
In furtherance of this scheme, 
the coast of New England was 
subsequently divided among the 
councilors. One Sunday after- 
noon,- at a palace in Greenwich, 
a map of New England was di- 
vided into sections, and lots were 
cast to determine which sections 
should be assigned to the various 
councilors. The Duke of Buck- 
ingham got what is now southern 
New Hampshire ; the Earl of Warwick, Cape Ann ; the Earl 
of Arundel, eastern Maine ; Lord Georges, the vicinity of 
Boston. 

56. Contrast of the Two Movements. Almost at the very 
time when these great nobles were drawing up their scheme 
for a government of America " from above downwards," 
Sir Edwin Sandys, by order of the Virginia Company, was 
perfecting a code of laws for their American possessions. In 
1621 this code, known to-day as the "Sandys Constitution," 
was put in force. Its aim was exactly the opposite of that of 
the Council for New England. In Virginia the representa- 
tives of the people were to be the real source of authority. 
Though the home government retained a veto upon the acts 
* Osgood, "Colonies," I, 104. ^ In June, 1623. 




SEAL OF THE COUNCIL FOR 
NEW ENGLAND 



REACTION AGAINST LIBERAL GOVERNMENT 41 



of the Burgesses, this document^ secured to the colonists a large 
measure of control over the colony. Thus, in that memorable 
year 162 1, the lines were plainly drawn separating the two 
parties which were contending for the mastery of the West. 
On the one hand, a syndicate of unscrupulous capitalists, 
backed by a ring of powerful courtiers, formulated the reac- 
tionary conception of government in their scheme for the or- 
ganization of New England as a group of feudal principalities. 
On the other hand, the Liberals, animated by a new principle 
in human affairs, were an- 
ticipating the modern con- 
ception of a state. These 
groups of enemies were 
rapidly consolidating into 
political parties. Each 
side turned to America as 
to fresh soil in which to 
plant its ideas and expand 
them to their fullest pro- 
portions.^ 

57. The Great Mas- 
sacre. We must now turn 
our attention to a dread- 
ful event which occurred 
about this time in Vir- 
ginia. At the opening of 1622, the colony, as it showed 
upon the map, was a narrow strip, stretching inland 
from the sea along the James River to about the site of the 
present city of Richmond. Under the wise administration 
of the Liberals, the colony had begun to show many signs of 




SIR EDWIN SANDYS 



'It was entitled "An Ordinance for Virginia." The essential parts are re- 
printed in Macdonald's "Documentary Source Book." 

2 Parliament met again in 1621. At once the contest between the two parties 
began. The apparently simple matter of fishing rights off the American coast 
opened the struggle and aided in defining the positions of both sides. See a full 
discussion in Beer, "British Colonial System." 



42 AMERICAN HISTORY 

prosperity. Corn, fruit, and tobacco were grown in abun- 
dance. The culture of silkworms had been introduced. 
There were iron works, glass works, and salt works. 

On both sides of that narrow strip of settled country 
were the Indians. In the past they had not always been 
friendly. Of late, however, good feeling appeared to have 
been established. Indians came and went freely in the villages 
of the colony, and visited the lonely farmhouses strung along 
the river. 

There is reason to think that the Powhatan, or Great Chief, 
of the surrounding Indians was sufficiently far-sighted to 
perceive the danger to his people of the presence of the white 
men, and that he had long wanted a pretext on which to incite 
his " braves " to war. This was given early in 1622. An 
Indian who had killed a white man was killed by the settlers. 
Soon afterwards Indians in war paint burst across the bound- 
ary of the colony, all along its length, like a rising tide across 
a dike. Dreadful scenes followed. At many of those lonely 
houses a handful of settlers fought for their lives against a 
horde of savages. At many places the attack ended in the 
butchery of the defenders. In the main, however, the in- 
vasion was unsuccessful, but the colony was seriously crippled 
and some four hundred whites were killed. 

58. Renewal of the Attack on the Liberals. The news of 
this catastrophe was made use of most unfairly by the Reac- 
tionaries. They tried to show that Virginia had been ruined by 
the Liberals. In this they were assisted by a certain Captain 
Butler, of unsavory reputation, who wrote a pamphlet on 
" The Unmasked Face of Our Colony in Virginia." Butler 
pictures Virginia as consisting chiefly of " mere salt marshes 
full of infectious buggs," where all sorts of misery prevailed. 
The Company rephed with a statement which should have 
persuaded all fair-minded persons that Captain Butler was 
not to be trusted. It showed that the two thousand or more 
people then living in Virginia were, considering all the cir- 
cumstances, getting on very well. 



REACTION AGAINST LIBERAL GOVERNMENT 43 

59. The Virginia Commission. However, the opportunity 
of the Reactionaries had come. Early in 1623 James appointed 
a commission, nominally to examine in full the affairs of the 
Virginia Company, but in reality to discover a way to destroy 
it. A way was found. James I had made the courts of law 
mere tools of the crown. On this despotic practice of the 
king, the commissioners based their plan. The Court of 
King's Bench was now to be called upon to decide whether 
the charters of the Company were legally vaHd. If, on any 
ground whatever, these charters could be pronounced invahd, 
then all the property and all the power of the Company would 
immediately revert to the king. In 1624 the question of the 
Virginia charters and the right of the Company to continue 
in possession of its lands and authority was taken into court. 

60. The Last Stand of the Liberals. The Liberals knew 
perfectly well what tliis meant. The case was as good as 
decided beforehand. The judges would be mere mouth- 
pieces of the king. Thus the time had come for a full trial 
of strength with James. Had the new political party, the 
party of the Liberals, gained sufficient strength to defy the 
king ? Sandys and Southampton made up their minds to take 
the desperate course. They appealed to Parhament. 

In May, 1624, a petition of the Virginia Company asking 
for assistance in its difficulties was laid before the House of 
Commons. Representatives of the Company who were also 
members of Parhament — Sir Edwin Sandys, Nicholas 
Ferrar, Lord Cavendish, and Sir John Danvers — appealed to 
the House to take a hand in the management of Virginia. 
But once more the king interfered. On the ninth of the 
month, a letter was deHvered to the House of Commons from 
King James. He commanded the Commons "not to trouble 
themselves " with this petition of the Liberals, but to leave the 
matter to him and his Privy Council. 

The Parhament of England had not yet acquired sufficient 
resolution to defy the king. On the reading of his letter the 
Reactionaries exulted openly. The Liberals were silent and 



44 AMERICAN HISTORY 

downcast. A few muttered their discontent. But none were 
bold enough to propose resistance. The Virginia petition 
was set aside. The Company was left by Parliament at the 
mercy of the king. 

61. The Virginia Company Abolished. There followed 
what every one knew would follow. The Court of King's 
Bench gave the judgment the king wished and pronounced the 
charters null and void. The king at once took possession of 
the property and of the records of the Company, appointed 
officers of his own to conduct its business, abolished the 
Sandys constitution, and commissioned the first royal gov- 
ernor of Virginia. 

Thus we take farewell of that noble first attempt to make 
America free, tolerant, democratic. For the moment it had 
failed. But the good seed had been sown ; it had taken root, 
and as we shall see, even royal despotism could not entirely 
uproot it. 

Selections from the Sources. Tyler, Narratives of Early Virginia; 
Macdonald, Documentary Source Book, for the Ordinance of Virginia; 
Hart, Contemporaries, I, Nos. 51, 66, 67; the charter of the Council 
for New England is reprinted by the United States government in Charters 
and Constitutions, I, 951 ; Kingsbury, The Records of the Virginia 
Company. 

Secondary Accounts. Brown, First Republic in America; Osgood, 
American Colonies, 1, chap, v, III, chap, ii; Fiske, Old Virginia and 
Her Neighbors, I ; Bruce, Institutional History of Virginia in the Seven- 
teenth Century, I, 1-188; Channing, History, 1, 143-236; Doyle, 
English Colonics in America, I, chaps, vi-ix; Beer, The Origins of the 
British Colonial System; Gardiner, History of England, III. 

Topics for Special Reports., i. James I and Parliament. 2. The 
Tobacco Monopoly. (The revenues derived from the sale of tobacco were 
a source of much contention between the crown and the Virginia Com- 
pany. The subject is discussed in all the larger treatises. Sec, es- 
pecially, Beer, Colonial System, chaps, iv-vi.) 4. Indian war in 
Virginia. 5. State of the Colony in 1624. 6. Enghsh Politics in 1624. 



CHAPTER V 
MASSACHUSETTS, THE GREAT SECTARIAN STATE 

62. English America in 1625. The Council for New Eng- 
land did not prosper. The great aristocrats in its membership 
soon tired of the venture, and very few of them took any steps 
to get possession of their principalities in America. During 
the few years immediately following the defeat of the Liberals, 
the active men in the Council had hard work to persuade 
any one to take an interest in New England. It was during 
this period that the Council issued a number of smaller grants 
which were not intended to develop principalities. Sometimes 
these grants contradicted each other; they were the source 
of much confusion in after time. At the moment, however, 
only one of them had important results. This was in the hands 
of some gentlemen of Dorchester, England, whose agents 
had established a fishing village out of which eventually grew 
the present city of Salem, in Massachusetts.^ 

63. The Massachusetts Bay Company. It was in 1628 
that the Dorchester people got their grant from the Council, 
and the next year the king gave them a royal charter. Thus 
was organized the Massachusetts Bay Company.- The new 

1 Their fishing village on Cape Ann was founded in 1623. "For some years 
the Dorchester adventurers — a small company of merchants in the shire town 
of Dorset — had been sending vessels to catch fish off the New England coast. 
In 1623 these men conceived the idea of planting a small village as a fishing 
station, and setting up a church and a preacher therein for the spiritual consola- 
tion of the fishermen and sailors." Fiske, "Beginnings of New England," 92. 

2 This Company was formed upon the same model as the Virginia Company. 
The control of it was vested in stockholders. 

The new Company was withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the Council for 
New England and became directly subject to the king. Like the Virginia 
Company it received both the title to the land and authority to govern the in- 
habitants. Its territory extended from a line three miles south of the Charles 
River to a line three miles north of the Merrimac, and westward to the Pacific. 

45 



46 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Company immediately sent over John Endicott to take 
command at Salem and begin the work of building up a 
colony. 

64. The New Party in England. By this time the Liberals 
in England were beginning to break up into several distinct 
groups, and sharp disagreements were arising among them. 
No one term is adequate to cover all the groups subsequent 
to 1629. Therefore, we shall not again speak of them as a 
political party. Instead we shall observe what happened to 
a new poUtical party of which one division of the old Liberals 
formed the core. 

It must always be borne in mind that the great Liberal 
movement of 161 9 (section 48) and 162 1 (section 56) was 
inspired by two revolutionary ideas: (i) the belief that all 
political power should come from the people ; (2) the faith 
that the mind should be free, and hence that government 
should not meddle with religion. But as time passed these 
two ideas began to part company in the thoughts of many 
men. Large numbers of the former allies of Sandys defi- 
nitely abandoned, if they ever held — which is doubtful — 
his belief in religious toleration as the fixed policy of the 
State. Many other men, who had not previously sided with 
him, came over to the revolutionary side on the first of 
the two principles, but on that only. On the second of the 
principles, they were as unwavering as his bitterest oppo- 
nents. Thus arose a party which was revolutionary in one 
way, and conservative and reactionary in another. As com- 
pared with King James, they were revolutionaries ; as com- 
pared with Sir Edwin Sandys, they were reactionaries. 

In 1629 this party had no accepted name. In membership 
it was almost wholly, if not quite, Protestant. The bulk of 
its members were '' Puritans," who favored certain radical 
changes in the constitution of the Church of England. A 
considerable portion went still further and wished to separate 
from the Church altogether, although, as late as 1629, very few 
had actually done so. Within the party were the seeds of many 




: 'W i > » > i W i > i «n i»lil», ii< « ny « H iiw n i^Mito«^'''*^' 



H'lWIttrifiw i iniiiM i Ti l ii 'fl « i fmi f ft i wfrlii i l l 1i" i il i »ii»wt» 



THE PURITAN 
By Augustus St. Gaudens. The statue is in Springfield, Mass, 



48 AMERICAN HISTORY 

future differences, and its later history is practically the same 
as the history of England. One wing of it subsequently 
returned, practically, to the position of Sandys, and came very 
near putting into practice some of his best ideas. With its 
later fortunes, however, American history is concerned only 
indirectly. But with its activities in the years 1629 and 1630 
Americans are most intimately concerned. 

65. The European Situation of 1629. The year 1629 is 
one of the dark years of history. The bitter disagreement 
among the nations on the subject of religion had flamed into 
war. What we have seen of the readiness of Englishmen to take 
sides against toleration as advocated by Sandys was typical 
of the whole world. The time had not come when the religion of 
peace and good will could be much more than a beautiful hope. 
Even the great reform movements in religion had not as yet 
become movements for general religious freedom. Though 
these movements corrected many abuses and did much good, 
the bitterness aroused against the things aboHshed had stimu- 
lated that spirit of fanaticism which it was the dream of 
men Uke Sandys to get rid of forever. Everywhere through- 
out Europe a fierce reactionary spirit was sweeping both 
CathoHcs and Protestants into a passion of mutual hatred. 
As the natural culmination of all this uncharitableness came 
the dreadful Thirty Years' War, in which the champions of 
the two rehgions fought like wild beasts for the control of the 
world. It ended, fortunately, in neither getting control ; but 
meanwhile Europe was drenched in blood. 

66. Significance to America. The significance of all this 
to Americans is as follows. In 1629 the Protestant cause 
appeared to be losing. Those men who composed the new 
party in England felt that their situation was desperate. 
]Many of them had become bitterly anti-Catholic and now 
they began to fear that the Catholic party would become 
dominant over Europe. It happened that Endicott and the 
others to whom the Massachusetts charter had been granted 
were of this extreme anti-Catholic group. In this fact others 



MASSACHUSETTS, GREAT SECTARIAN STATE 49 



of the party saw an opportunity. Why not arrange with their 
friends in the Massachusetts Company to people the colony 
only with members of their own party? Thus they might 
build up, in America, a state in which their own religion should 
be established by law. To this end a number of Puritans met 
at Cambridge, England, August 26, 1629, and formed the 
" Cambridge Agreement." They agreed that if the Massa- 
chusetts Company would remove its ofi&ces to the colony, 
they would all become members of the Company and would 
remove with it to America. 
Perhaps the chief man in this 
movement was John Win- 
throp. 

67. The Company becomes 
a Commonwealth. Plere was 
a strange turn of affairs never 
dreamed of by the king when 
he chartered the Company. 
When the Company accepted 
the " Cambridge Agreement " 
and elected Winthrop as its 
head, with intention to carry 
out his program, there was a 
great stir among the king's 
advisers. It was even pro- 
posed to forbid the removal. But the charter was specific in 
its grant of authority to the Company, and there was no flaw 
to be discovered in the terms of the grant. The Company 
plainly had the right to remove its offices to New England if 
it chose. 

It did so. The system provided in the charter for managing 
the affairs of the Company was quietly expanded into a political 
system for managing a state. According to the charter the 
Company was to consist of " freemen " (whom we should 
now call " stockholders ") who were to have the ultimate 
management of its affairs. They were to assemble periodi- 




JOHN WINTHROP 



50 AMERICAN HISTORY 

cally in a " General Court " ^ and elect a " governor " and a 
board of " assistants," or, to use the modern term, directors. 
The Company was to have title to all the land of Massa- 
chusetts and complete monopoly of all its trade. 

A few changes served to convert this system into a pohtical 
constitution. Chief of these was a change of point of view 
in the minds of the emigrants abolishing the recollection 
that the '' governor " was formerly only the head of a com- 
mercial company. Each year when the " freemen " chose 
a " governor," they thought of him as the political head of 
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Similarly, they put 
aside the thought that their right to elect him rested on the 
fact that they were, in the eyes of the English law, members 
of a company ; they substituted the thought that they were 
entitled to do so as citizens of the Commonwealth of Massa- 
chusetts. 

They also gave up certain things which, in their new capacity 
as citizens of a commonwealth, it seemed undesirable for them 
to possess in common. For one thing, they abandoned the 
monopoly which the old company had in trade. Trade was 
thrown open to all members of the commonwealth, and only 
the regulation of it was kept in the hands of the government. 

Later changes converted the " assistants " into the upper 
house of the legislature of the commonwealth and made the 
General Court a representative assembly instead of a meeting 
of all the freemen. 

68. The Religious Test. However, the heart of the matter 
has not yet been shown. This was the question : How shall 
a man become a freeman of Massachusetts and thus acquire 
the right to vote for governor and members of the General 
Court ? Here came in the great matter of the chief purpose of 
the colony. The emigrants had crossed the Atlantic to secure 
themselves in the practice of their own religion. To admit 

'This old use of "Court" is approximately equivalent to "Assembly." In 
1641 the General Court estabhshed a legal code known as the "Body of Liber- 
ties." 



MASSACHUSETTS, GREAT SECTARIAN STATE 51 



to voting membership in the commonwealth any one who 
applied might end in getting a majority opposed to the re- 
Hgion of the founders. Just this was what happened later in 
the case of the Catholic colony of Maryland, — as we shall 
see in the next chapter. This danger the Massachusetts 
Puritans sought to forestall by requiring all freemen to 
profess themselves mem- 
bers of some congregation 
approved by the General 
Court. Thus Massachu- 
setts set up an established 
Puritan Church.^ 

69. The Puritan Migra- 
tion. No sooner was it 
known in England that 
the Massachusetts experi- 
ment was measurably sure 
of success than great num- 
bers of Puritans prepared 
to emigrate. So large were 
the numbers that their 
movement westward is 
known as the " Puritan Mi- 
gration." Within ten years 
Massachusetts was a flour- 
ishing little state with fif- 
teen thousand inhabitants. 

70. The Crown attacks Massachusetts. There was now, 
in England, an organized party of royalists opposing syste- 
matically republican ideas. At its head stood the king, 
Charles I, who had succeeded his father, James, in 1625. 
The formation of the state of Massachusetts aroused distrust 
and alarm in the minds of the royalists, and there was talk 
of invalidating the Massachusetts charter, through the same 

1 Advanced students could investigate with profit the conditions of colonial 
suffrage. For full bibliography see Root and Ames, "Syllabus," 24-37. 




COTTON MATHER 

One of the great figures of early New England 
was the famous theologian, Cotton Mather, 
author of the "Ecclesiastical History of 
New England," or, " Magnalia Christi 
Americana." His son. Increase Mather, 
is only less famous than his father. 



52 AMERICAN HISTORY 

legal process that had proved successful in the case of Vir- 
ginia (section 59). In 1634 the report came to America that 
the king intended to take over the government of Massa- 
chusetts and establish there the Church of England. There- 
upon Boston, now a thriving httle town and capital of the 
colony, was at once fortified, and the General Court created 
a military commission with authority to make war. When in 
1638 the crown demanded the surrender of the Massachusetts 
charter, the colony refused to give it up. Thus the king and 
the colony stood squarely opposed. However, the king had 
waited too long before making his attack. The Puritan party 
was now too strong, on both sides of the ocean, to be overawed. 
With each day, opposition to the king at home was becoming 
more active and more outspoken. Presently (in 1640), the 
famous Long ParHament began its sittings and never again 
was Charles I in a position to molest Massachusetts. 

71. Political Significance of the Settlement of Massa- 
chusetts. In its poUtical significance the Commonwealth 
of Massachusetts was a true descendant of the Liberal move- 
ment of 1 61 9 (section 48). It stands in history as a great 
victory for the first of the two principles of the earlier move- 
ment. It had bravely and successfully defied the ancient 
power of the crown. It had set up a repubhcan state in which 
the rulers had no title to power but the will of the men who 
put them into office. As the first successful assertion of the 
republican principle against the monarchial principle by men 
of English race, it is one of the great events in our constitu- 
tional history. 

72. Roger Williams. Though a stronghold of liberalism 
poHtically, Massachusetts in rehgion continued to be rigidly 
conservative. Being determined to have a strictly Puritan 
state, the founders of the colony made no pretense of toleration. 
However, a bold and independent thinker was living in their 
midst — Roger Williams, a clergyman, of Salem. The 
doctrines which Williams taught were pronounced by the 
authorities heretical, and WiUiams was banished. But Roger 



MASSACHUSETTS, GREAT SECTARIAN STATE 53 

Williams was the type of man that thrives upon persecution. 
He now resolved to put into practice the dream of his life, 
which was to establish a state that should abandon all rehgious 
control over its citizens. Having fled from Massachusetts 
and found refuge among the Indians (1636), he purchased 
from them a tract of land on Narragansett Bay, where he laid 
the foundations of Rhode Island. It is the boast of citizens 
of Rhode Island that theirs is the first community in the New 
World founded upon complete freedom of conscience.^ 

73. The Antinomians. Another persecution occurred at 
Boston. Among the chief men of the colony was Colonel 
Hutchinson, whose wife, Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, is described 
as "of a haughty and fierce carriage, of a nimble wit and 
active spirit and very voluble tongue." This probably 
means that she was a striking and handsome woman who said 
what she pleased. Mrs. Hutchinson became the center of 
what Professor Hart has playfully called " the first woman's 
club in America." That is to say, she used to gather her 
women friends at her house and discuss the sermons of their 
pastor. Presently the authorities learned that Mrs. Hutchin- 
son had formed views of her own which were at variance with 
theirs, and was boldly advocating them. The name " Anti- 
nomian " was applied to the lady and her followers. It 
signified to men of that day very much what " extreme radi- 
cal " or even " anarchist " does to us.^ Mrs. Hutchinson was 
tried for heresy, found guilty, and banished. With a number 
of persons who accepted her views, she withdrew to the free 
country of Rhode Island. 

74. A Free Country. Thus early did Httle Rhode Island 
become a refuge for the oppressed of America. In this it had 
one great example. Holland had been a refuge for the op- 

1 Williams denied that the State had the right to prescribe a form of religion. 
He advocated absolute freedom of worship. He also maintained that the king 
had no title to the soil of America and no right to grant it to others, that "honest 
patents could only be procured from the Indians by purchase." 

2 For exact theological significance see Adams, " Three Episodes of Massa- 
chusetts History " ; Osgood, " American Colonies." 



54 AMERICAN HISTORY 

pressed of Europe. What Holland had been to the Old 
World, Rhode Island became, in part, to the New. And it 
is interesting to note that the enemies of both states talked 
of them in the same way. In Europe, Holland had been de- 
rided as a nest of controversies where nothing had perma- 
nence, — a most unjust charge. In America, Rhode Island was 
described by its detractors as a state that could not be relied 
upon, a state that did not know its own mind. We shall 
see how curiously this charge figured in later events (see 
section 103, note). 

75. General Intolerance in America. It would not be fair 
to Massachusetts to suppose that she stood alone in her 
principle of religious intolerance. Unfortunately, the bitter 
temper of the time permeated almost all communities. While 
Massachusetts, since the Agreement of 1629, had received only 
Puritans from England, Virginia had received few colonists 
who were not Anghcans. However, a small number of 
Puritans had settled in Virginia. To minister to these, three 
Puritan clergymen went to Virginia from Boston in 1643. 
Here was a crisis in the religious history of the southern 
colony. Had the Liberals of 161 9 still been in control, the 
Puritans would have been welcomed. But the day of the 
Liberals was gone. The Puritan clergymen were ordered to 
leave the colony and a law enacted forbidding any clergymen 
but those of the Church of England to live within its bound- 
aries. 

76. The Execution of the Quakers. The sad story of 
religious persecution in America culminates in the sufferings 
inflicted on the Quakers. Massachusetts again showed her 
iron devotion to her own stern principles in the way she dealt 
with the Quakers. There was much in their tliinking and 
acting that peculiarly offended the Puritans. For one thing, 
the Quakers preached that war was a sin ; they also protested 
against all rehgious forms and ceremonies as unnecessary, if 
not wrong. They denied entirely the right of the state to 
control religion. Such people had no place in the severe 



MASSACHUSETTS, GREAT SECTARIAN STATE 55 

system of Massachusetts. Quakers who attempted to preach 
in Massachusetts were banished with a warning not to return 
on pain of death. 

Several of the banished Quakers retreated to Rhode Island. 
Though Massachusetts threatened to prohibit trade with 
Rhode Island if it sheltered the Quakers, the bold little state 
refused to yield its principle of complete freedom of con- 
science. It was in Rhode Island in 1659 that a Quaker 
named Robinson received a call from God, as he believed, to 
go to Massachusetts and become a martyr. Threeothers — 
among them a woman, Mary Dyer, — had the same inspira- 
tion. The four, having gone to Boston, frankly declared 
why they had come. They were there to witness to the Lord, 
they said, and to defy the wicked laws of Massachusetts. 
On Boston Common all four were hanged. Mary Dyer 
was offered a pardon at the foot of the gallows, if she would 
promise to leave the colony. She refused life on those terms. 

It is but fair to add that there seems to have been a revul- 
sion of feeling following the executions, and though another 
Quaker was condemned to die, his life was spared. 



Selections from the Sources. Macdonald, Documentary Source Book, 
for the Massachusetts Charter; Winthrop, New England (Original 
Narrative Series); Hart, Contemporaries, I, Nos. 105-115,137-140; 
Force, Tracts, Vols. II and III. 

Secondary Accounts. Channing, History, I, X, XII, XIII; Fiske, 
Beginning of New England, pp. 50-198 ; Osgood, Colonies, I, 141-287, 
332-370, III, 54-70; Thwaite, Colonies, 124-140; Adams, Three 
Episodes in Massachusetts History; Eggleston, Beginners of a 
Nation; National Dictionary of Biography, article on Roger Williams ; 
Straus, Roger Williams; Twitchell, John Winthrop; Doyle, Puritan 
Colonies, I, 74-112; Greene, Short History of Rhode Island; Gardi- 
ner, History of England, III. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. The Puritan Party in England. 
2. England and the Thirty Years' War. 3. John Winthrop. 4. Con- 
stitution of Colonial Massachusetts. 5. Religious Persecution in New 
England. 6. The Formation of Rhode Island. 7. The King and 
the Puritans. 



CHAPTER VI 

MARYLAND AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY 

77. The Grant to the Calverts. We have seen how brave 
Httle Rhode Island became the Holland of the New World. 
But Rhode Island's example was not the sole foundation of 
religious toleration in America. That honor was shared at 
first with the Catholic colony of Maryland, and later with the 
Quaker colony of Pennsylvania, and with South Carolina. 

The colony of Maryland was the work of a great Catholic 
noble, Cecilius Calvert, second Lord Baltimore. A faithful 
royalist, his colony was named Maryland after the queen, 
Henrietta Maria. Through the king's favor, the Calvert 
family was enabled to establish what so many men had 
dreamed of estabhshing — ^an American principality. By a 
grant drawn up in 1631, Lord Baltimore's father had become 
entitled to a large tract of land surrounding Chesapeake 
Bay.^ He died, however, too soon to improve it ; and all his 
rights descended to his son, the great Lord Baltimore,- who 
was made hereditary ruler of Maryland, with the title of 
" Proprietary." He was to stand to the king as did the great 
feudal barons of the Middle Ages. He was bound to assist 
the king in time of war and not to make laws in his colony 

* It was bounded on the north by the 40th degree, on the east by Dela- 
ware Bay and the ocean, on the south by the Potomac and a line across the 
peninsula, and on the west by a meridian line drawn through the sources of the 
Potomac. The first Lord Baltimore died before his charter took elTect (1632). 

^ George, first Lord Baltimore, made his first attempt at colonization in 
Newfoundland. It was unsuccessful. Later he persuaded the king to give 
him a portion of Virginia to be made into a separate province. The work ac- 
complished by his son appears to have been planned by the father. 

S6 



MARYLAND AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY 57 

repugnant to the laws of England; but otherwise he was 
practically an independent sovereign/ 

78. Catholic Tolerance. The Maryland charter allowed 
a great deal of latitude in the matter of religion. This fact 
gives to Maryland its distinctive position in American history, 
for Lord Baltimore took advantage of it to open his colony 
to all forms of Christianity. Thus he sought to secure for 
Cathohcs a refuge from Protestant hostility. We have already 
seen that a reaction against the Catholics had taken place in 
England (section 64) and that the feehng between the two 
main branches of Christianity had become intensely bitter. 
The Enghsh laws bore heavily upon Catholics. The feehng 
against them had become so harsh that an out-and-out 
Catholic colony would have been promptly suppressed. 
Therefore it seems plain that Baltimore's first motive was a 
religious one, and that he tolerated all religions to get free 
play for his own.- 

79. The Founding of Maryland. In 1634 Baltimore sent 
over his first expedition to Maryland. It was composed of 
both Protestants and Catholics. Probably most of the Catho- 
lics were gentlemen dissatisfied with conditions in England, 
and most of the Protestants were their servants and retainers. 
There were three priests. Baltimore's instructions to his 
brother Leonard, the commander of the expedition and first 
governor of the colony, strike the keynote of liis poHcy. 
Leonard Calvert was instructed to see to it that "no . . . 
offence be given to any of the Protestants ... all acts of the 

1 The charter stated that the proprietary was to have, in his province, all the 
rights enjoyed in the county of Durham by the Bishop of Durham, who was 
feudal lord of his county with semi-independent authority. See Osgood, "Col- 
onies," II, 4-1 1. 

^ Some -svriters argue against this interpretation of Baltimore's motive, hold- 
ing that his real aim was simply to make himself a great prince and that his 
policy of toleration was but far-sighted self-interest, an astute scheme to make 
his colony prosper. See Denis, "Lord Baltimore's Struggle with the Jesuits," 
American Historical Association's Report, 1900. For the Roman Catholic 
view, see R. H. Clarke, The Catholic World, December, 1875, and October, 
1883; also "American Catholic Historical Researches," V, 173-176. 



58 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



Romaine Catholic Religion to be done as privately as may 
be . . . and that the Governor . . . treat the Protestants 
with as much mildness and favor as Justice will permit." 
In such a temper, on the west side of the Chesapeake Bay, 
just north of the mouth of the Potomac, was founded the 
town of St. Mary's. Mass was celebrated there, March 
25, 1634. 

80. The Proprietary Type of Colony. In the state thus 
founded the Proprietary had power to make war and conclude 
peace, to estabhsh courts, to appoint judges, to pardon crimi- 
nals, to coin money, and to grant titles. 

The chief officer of the colony was the 
Governor appointed by the Proprietary 
and serving as his representative. There 
was also a General Assembly of the free- 
men of the colony.^ 

81. William Claiborne. Though ex- 
pressly dedicated to peace and good will, 
the colony of Maryland was destined to a 
stormy career. At the very beginning the authority of the 
Calverts was challenged by a strong man from Virginia, 
William Claiborne. Under a royal license to trade in Chesa- 
peake Bay he had bought from the Indians Kent Island and 
formed a settlement there, but this island lay within the 
boundaries of Maryland. Claiborne's attempt to hold it 
caused a long and bitter contention between himself and the 
Calverts, that would not have significance to-day except for 
two lamentable circumstances. In the spring of 1635 some 
of Claiborne's traders fought a small battle with the Mary- 
landers. This was the first military engagement between 
English-speaking people in America. The other bad result 
of this affair of Kent Island was the relentless enmity to 
Baltimore which it engendered in Claiborne. The case was 

' At first the Proprietary was to enact laws and the Assembly was to accept 
or reject them. Soon this relation was reversed ; the Assembly enacted laws 
which were submitted to the Proprietary for approval. 




MARYLAND AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY 59 

finally decided in Baltimore's favor, and Claiborne lost his 
title to the island. He never forgave that loss. 

82. Civil War in Maryland. The outbreak of the Civil 
War in England gave Claiborne an opportunity. Since 
many of the subjects of Baltimore sided with the Parliament, 
Claiborne deemed it possible to extend the Civil War from 
England to Maryland. In this he had the aid of a Parlia- 
mentary adventurer, Richard Ingle. Between them they 
raised sufficient force to compel the governor to flee to Vir- 
ginia, and themselves seized the government. There followed 
a sort of reign of terror. Before long, however, Marylanders 
of all parties were sick of the rule of Claiborne, and Governor 
Calvert saw his chance to recover the colony. With the aid 
of Governor Berkeley of Virginia he raised a small army, 
returned to Maryland, and carried everything before him. 
Both Claiborne and Ingle fled the colony (1646). 

83. A Rebellious Temper. Though most of the Mary- 
landers appear to have consented to the restoration of the 
Calvert government, they were not in a good humor with the 
authorities. The Assembly which met the next year drew 
up a Hst of grievances. Governor Calvert had died earlier 
in the year (June, 1647), and the Assembly did not deal gently 
with his memory. He was charged with abuse of power. 
Payment for the soldiers he had employed was demanded 
from his estate. 

84. A Great Colonial Dame. A fine touch of greatness 
illumines the dark record at this point. The governor had 
appointed as his executrix his kinswoman, Mrs. Margaret 
Brent.^ This brave lady took up the matter of satisfying the 
soldiers and succeeded in doing so after selling off the gover- 
nor's cattle. The Assembly afterward wrote to Lord Balti- 

^ "This Mistress Margaret Brent . . . had come to the province in 1638 
with her sister Mary, bringing over nine colonists, five men and four women. 
They took up manors, imported more settlers and managed their affairs with 
masculine ability. One of the two courts-baron of which the records have been 
discovered, was held at St. Gabriel's Manor, the estate of Mary Brent." Browne, 
"Maryland" (American Commonwealth Series), 64. 




CECILIUS C/VLVERT, SECOND LORD BALTIMORE 



MARYLAND AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY 6i 

more that except for his kinswoman there would have been 
serious trouble, as the dissatisfied soldiers would listen to no 
one else. Still more interesting to us to-day is the demand of 
Mrs. Brent, as executrix of the late governor, for a seat in the 
Assembly. She was refused. We find from the records of the 
Assembly that " the said Mrs. Brent protested against all 
the proceedings of this Assembly unless she may be present 
and have a vote as aforesaid." This happened in 1648. 
Just ten years previous that other strong-minded lady, 
Mrs. Hutchinson, had been expelled from Massachusetts. 

85. The Act of Toleration. The mutterings of discontent 
in Maryland, in the year 1648, were reenforced by partisan 
enmity toward Baltimore in England. His royalist sym- 
pathies and his Catholic faith were made much of by his 
enemies. Ingle was now in England and had acquired some 
measure of influence. Every attempt was being made to 
give the impression that in Maryland poor Protestants were 
persecuted by cruel Catholics. To meet all this misrepre- 
sentation Baltimore decided on a bold stroke. He appointed 
a Protestant, William Stone, governor of the colony. He also 
drew up and sent to the Assembly to be enacted as a law the 
now famous Act of Toleration of Maryland. To secure its 
passage by the Assembly, he wrote that if it were passed he 
would ", then and not otherwise ... be wilhng for the ease of 
the people there to allow the one half yearly of the tobacco 
customs due unto us to go to the common defense of the 
province." 

The next year, 1649, the famous act was passed by the 
freemen of Maryland. It provided that no one professing 
to believe in Jesus Christ should be " troubled, molested, 
discountenanced for or in the respect of his or her religion 
or in the free exercise thereof " ; the act further provided 
that none should be in " any way compelled to the behef or 
exercise of any other religion against his or her consent." 

86. Puritans invited into Maryland. Perhaps it was to 
show the sincerity of the Maryland authorities that Governor 



62 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Stone invited the Puritans of Virginia to settle in Maryland. 
As Virginia had forbidden them seven years earher (section 
75) to have their own ministers, many of them now removed 
to Maryland. 

87. Later History of the Act. Thus Maryland took her 
place beside Rhode Island as a champion of the freedom of 
the mind. Her action was not indeed all it might have been. 
The great act benefited Trinitarians only and threatened 
death to all who denied the divinity of Christ. As John Fiske 
says, " A statute that threatens Unitarians with death leaves 
something to be desired in the way of toleration," but he adds, 
and all men must agree with him, *' for the age when it was 
enacted this statute was eminently liberal, and it certainly 
reflects great credit upon Lord Baltimore." 

The pity is that it did not remain in force forever. The 
troubles of the times led to another civil war in Maryland, 
and for a time the Puritans had the upper hand.^ They 
repealed the Toleration Act and excluded Catholics from the 
protection of the law. Only through the interference of Oliver 
Cromwell as Lord Protector of England (section loi) was 
the authority of Baltimore restored and the Toleration Act 
again put in force (section 112). But even this was not the 
end. What the Puritans had failed to do, the Anglicans did. 
Through the quiet immigration of members of the Church of 
England, Maryland came at length to have an Anglican 
majority among the freemen. These were as hostile to the 
principle of toleration as were their Puritan neighbors. So 
soon as they were able to control legislation, they repealed 
the act and established the Church of England in Maryland 
(1692 — see section 152). 

88. Toleration in Maryland. Because of the undoing of 
Maryland by immigrants who had found shelter under the 

' The turning point was an engagement called the battle of the Severn 
(1655), in which the Puritans were victorious. They executed by court martial 
four lenders of their enemies. Throughout the period of the Commonwealth 
Maryland continued in an unsettled condition. 



MARYLAND AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY 



63 



tolerant rule of the Calverts, it is incumbent on us, to-day, to 
remember how liberal that rule was. All lovers of fair play 
take comfort in the way the Catholic authorities of Maryland, 
in the old days, treated their Protestant fellow colonists. In 
1638 a Catholic named Lewis came upon some Protestants 
reading a sectarian book. He burst out in angry denuncia- 
tions of their religion, but he lived 
to repent it. Summoned before the 
CathoKc governor and a Catholic 
court, he was punished because of 
his " speeches and unseasonable dis- 
putation on points of religion con- 
trary to the public proclamation 
forbidding all such disputes." There 
is but one other religious case in 
the early trials of Maryland. In 
1642 an ardent Catholic got posses- 
sion of the key of the Protestant 
chapel of St. Mary's and refused to 
give it up. The Catholic ofhcialb 
showed him the full rigor of the law 
for annoying his Protestant neigh- 
bors. 

The tolerant spirit thus begun 
could not be wholly destroyed. The 
free principles of old-time Maryland 
lived on in spite of usurpation 
When, at last, the colonies became 
independent and Maryland had to en 1 1 

draw up a constitution, there were 

incorporated in it all the guaranties of religious freedom con- 
tained in the Act of Toleration. When, still later, the Ameri- 
can states united and adopted our present federal constitu- 
tion, there was speedily incorporated in it the principle that 
" Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." 




64 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Selections from the Sources. Macdonald, Documentary Source Book, 
for Maryland Charter and the Act of Toleration ; Hart, Contemporaries, 
I, Nos. 72-76; Force, Tracts, III, for the contemporary pamphlet, 
Leah and Rachel, discussing Maryland and Virginia, IV, for translation 
of Relatio Itineres of Father White, who came over in 1634; Merenes, 
Alsop's Maryland, a description of the province, published in 1666 ; 
Hall, Narratives of Early Maryland (Original Narrative Series). 

Secondary Accounts. Merenes, Maryland; Browne, Maryland 
(Am. Com. Series), chaps, i, v, x; Eggleston, Beginners of a Nation, 
220-265; Fiske, Old Virginia, I, 255-318, II, 131-173; Channing, 
History, I, chap, ix; Osgood, Colonies, II, 1-93, III, 112-132 ; Tyler, 
England in America, 1 18-148; Browne, George Calvert and Cecilius 
Calvert; Catholic Encyclopcedia, article on Maryland. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. Avalon (the unsuccessful colony which 
was attempted in Newfoundland). 2. The Feudal State of Maryland. 
3. The IVIaryland Civil Wars. 4. The Act of Toleration. 5. Mary- 
land under the Protectorate. 6. Relations between Maryland and 
Virginia. 7. The Society of Jesus in Maryland. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE MIDDLE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 
I. THE COLONIES AND THE LONG PARLIAMENT 

89. Formation of the British Empire. Gradually during 
the first half of the seventeenth century an empire had come 
into existence. The first step was taken in 1603 when England 
and Scotland were united under one sovereign. Though 
London became at once the chief residence of the sovereign, 
who now styled himself " King of Great Britain," nevertheless 
Scotland retained her own parliament and made her own laws. 
We have seen how new states sprang up in America, and how 
the empire gradually enlarged its borders until it came to have 
both an eastern and a western group of states. But there 
was a great difference between the two groups, constitutionally. 
The relation of the states of the eastern group to each other 
and to the empire as a whole had been defined by law. Such 
was not the case m the West. In 1638, when Massachusetts 
defied the crown (section 70) , it had not yet been determined 
just what was her relation to the rest of the empire. Was 
the brave Httle colony a part of the kingdom of England, or 
was she, Hke Scotland, a separate state of the empire? The 
question was of vast importance because upon it turned this 
other question: who was legally entitled to rule over the 
colonies? In the previous reign James I had maintained, as 
we have seen (section 60), that the colonies were his personal 
dominions, that the Parliament of England had no more 
authority over Virginia than it had over Scotland. In this 
way arose the great imperial question of the relation to each 
other of the states of the empire. We shall see, hereafter, 

65 



66 AMERICAN HISTORY 

how that question widened slowly into a bitter enmity between 
East and West in the British empire. 

90. Civil War forces an Issue. When, in 1642, news 
came to America that the king and the EngHsh Parliament 
were at war (section 82), the colonics faced a difficult problem. 
From the American point of view, which side was it best to 
take? If the king overcame the English ParUament and 
became the real master of the strongest state of the empire, 
he might easily prove a despot to all the rest. On the other 
hand, if England's Parliament crushed the king, it might 
claim to be the heir of all his former power and treat the 
outlying parts of the empire as mere fields of speculation for 
its partisans in England. A tyrant state is even a worse 
master than a tyrant person. Therefore the colonies had good 
reason to hesitate. 

91. How the Colonies Acted. But action of some sort 
had to be taken. What was done differed greatly in dif- 
ferent colonies. In Virginia Sir William Berkeley and his 
partisans (section 82) were able to keep that colony pretty 
steadily on the king's side.^ Maryland, as we have seen 
(sections 82, 87), was more evenly divided. Rhode Island 
seems to have looked upon the parhamentary party as 
the champions of universal liberty and lightly passed over 
the constitutional questions which were looming upon the 
political horizon. Early in the war Rhode Island accepted a 
charter from the Long Parliament (1643) ^^^ thus appeared, 
at least, to commit itself to that side. The action taken by 
the remaining New England colonics struck a new note. To 
understand it, we must glance at the map of New England as 
it was when the war began. 

92. The Political Map of New England. The political 
map of New England showed seven distinct regions. With 
three we are familiar — Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Rhode 

' It was soon after the beginning of the war that Virginia expelled the Puritan 
ministers (section 75). As Puritans were generally parliamentarians, we must 
consider the fact in judging their expulsion. 



MIDDLE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 67 

Island. Two more lay to the northeast; two others to the 
southwest. 

Far to the northeast there was a feeble attempt at a pro- 
prietary colony. Sir Ferdinando Gorges^ had endeavored 
to establish a royalist colony in Maine with the Church of 
England as the predominant religion. 

The region between Maine and Massachusetts had already 
taken the name of New Hampshire. Who was entitled to it 
was a question.^ The Council for New England had given it 
to John Mason ; perhaps they had also given it to Massa- 
chusetts. This was one of the worst instances of those con- 
flicting grants (section 62) which made trouble for the colonists. 
However, the claimants of the region had done little to develop 
it. Meanwhile settlers had come in of their own accord and 
towns had sprung up. The Httle group of towns thus formed 
was coveted by their powerful neighbor, Massachusetts, 
that claimed the land on which they were located. One 
of them, Dover, had already been annexed. As to the re- 
mainder of New Hampshire, one of the problems of 1642 
was, what should become of it. 

93. Connecticut. Another EngHsh state had recently ap- 
peared upon the map. As early as 1633 the town of Windsor, in 
Connecticut, was founded by the men of Plymouth. Hearing 
what a promising region was the Connecticut Valley, emi- 
grants from Massachusetts had removed thither in 1635-1636. 

* The Plymouth Company and the Council for New England made several 
grants of land in the region now occupied by Maine. See Osgood, "Colonies," 
I, 1 19-127, 371-390. The royal province of Maine was created by Charles I, 
and Sir Ferdinando Gorges constituted Lord Proprietor, in 1639. He received 
the coast from the Piscataqua to the Kennebec and inland one hundred and 
twenty miles. In Thwaites, "Colonies," 151, is a brief summary of his sys- 
tem of government. 

2 The north line of Massachusetts was described as running three miles north 
of the Merrimac River. Did this mean three miles north of the mouth or three 
miles north of the source ? If it meant the latter, a glance at the map will shov/ 
that all seaboard New Hampshire had been granted to Massachusetts. Liti- 
gation over the New Hampshire territory was long carried on by the heirs of 
Mason. By degrees their claims were all extinguished, partly by purchase. 



6S 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



Their principal leader was the Reverend Thomas Hooker, a 
wise and far-sighted man of liberal views. In 1639 three 
little towns, Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield, united to 




1. Plymouth. 2. Region eventually occupied by Massachusetts under the later inter- 
pretation of her grant fixing the north boundary at a line three miles north of the 
east and west portion of the Merrimac. (The unshaded area between the Merri- 
mac and the Charles indicates approximately the first stage of the growth of the 
colony.) 3. Province of Maine. 4. Region granted to the Duke of York and 
subsequently added to Maine. 5. Original New Hampshire. 6. Connecticut. 
7. New Haven. 8. Rhode Island. 

form the state of Connecticut. They adopted a constitution 
known as the " Foundamental Orders of Connecticut." ^ 



1 Connecticut became conspicuous among the strictly Puritan colonies for 
liberality both in religion and in politics. ^Nluch of the credit for this is gener- 
ally accorded to Hooker. In temper the new colony resembled Plymouth rather 
than Massachusetts. See Walker, "Thomas Hooker," chaps, vi-vii. 



MIDDLE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 69 

94. Independent Towns. The region west of the Connecti- 
cut Valley was not occupied by any settled government, but 
emigrants had gone past Connecticut into what was then the 
Far West. They had organized towns, some on the main- 
land, some across the Sound on Long Island. Each of these, 
in 1642, was a tiny repubhc with no defined relation to any 
other government in the world. The chief of these was New 
Haven.^ 

95. The Dutch Fort. Last, but of great significance, was 
a Dutch fort. In spite of the EngHsh claim to the whole of 
the Atlantic coast, the Dutch had estabHshed themselves in 
the valley of the Hudson and in 1633 had planted an outpost 
on the Connecticut. That fort of " Good Hope " was a stand- 
ing evidence of the desire of Holland to secure the Connecti- 
cut Valley and had an immense effect upon the imagination 
of the settlers. The fort was near neighbor to the town of 
Hartford. 

96. Changes of 1643. The year 1643 saw marked changes 
in the map of New England. They were three in number. 
First, those more remote settlements were united into a state 
which took its name from its chief town. New Haven. Second, 
the annexation of New Hampshire to Massachusetts was com- 
pleted. Third, Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and 
New Haven formed a federal union styled the " United Colo- 
nies of New England." This union led to events of profound 
significance in American history. They will be discussed in 
the second section of this chapter. What concerns us here is 
the relation of- these states with the Long Parliament. 

97. The Parliamentary Colonial Commission. In that 
same year, 1643, Parhament appointed on its own authority a 
" Governor in Chief " and named seventeen commissioners 
to assist him to " dispose all things " concerning the colonies. 
In other words, Parhament declared itself sovereign over the 
colonies in place of the king. From what we already know 
of colonial conditions (sections 90, 91) it should be plain that 

1 See Levermore, "Republic of New Haven" (Johns Hopkins Studies). 



7© AMERICAN HISTORY 

this assumption was bound to be resented in America. The 
southerly colonies with their royalist sympathies could not be 
expected to acquiesce in parliamentary rule. As events 
proved, the Northern colonies, though inhabited by Puritans, 
were equally opposed to having England's Parhament make 
their laws. A flood of light is thrown upon the American situa- 
tion by a letter from VVinthrop to friends in England who had 
offered to secure from Parliament any legislation Massa- 
chusetts desired. Winthrop declined their offer, " lest in . . . 
after times . . . hostile forces might be in control and mean- 
time a precedent would have been established." Thus things 
stood as late as 1649. I^"^ that year Charles I was executed 
and the successful parliamentarians proclaimed England a 
commonwealth with themselves as its rulers.' The relation 
of East and West in the empire was now squarely at issue. 
Would the Americans accept the rule of the English Parlia- 
ment, or would they not ? 

98. The Southern Colonies Yield. Virginia promptly 
answered, No.^ The eldest son of the dead king was there 
acclaimed as Charles II. In Maryland also, against the will 
of Lord Baltimore, there was a demonstration in favor of 
Charles II. To check this royalist movement in the South 
Parliament sent out a commission with a military force that 
speedily reduced the Southern colonies to submission. - 

99. The Situation in the North. Among the northern 
colonies a dift'erent situation developed. Though the English 
Puritans did not want to use force against their American 
brethren, the Long Parhament in 1651 commanded Massa- 

* It should be borne in mind that Scotland and Ireland also refused to admit 
the authority of the one great state, England, to administer the empire as it 
saw fit. Scotland promptly resumed its independence, and crowned Charles 
II king. It was brought back into the empire by the "push of pike." The 
empire was held together, during the commonwealth and the protectorate, in 
Europe by force, in America by diplomacy. 

2 Subsequently the commissioners allowed the Virginia Burgesses to elect 
a governor. Virginia was practically a free republic during this period. See 
section 1 1 2 of this chapter. 




Courtesy of the Century Piiblishuig Co. 

THE LONG PARLIAMENT IN SESSION 

Reception of an Ambassador from the King of Spain. The costumes of 
Puritans and Cavaliers are well represented in this picture 



MIDDLE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 



71 



chusetts to surrender its charter and take out a new one 
granted by Parliament. But Massachusetts had no mind to 
admit that the EngHsh Parhament was supreme in the empire. 
During more than a year the colony evaded answering. At 
last, a memorial was sent to Parliament setting forth that the 
people of Massachusetts were satisfied with their present form 
of government and 
hoped it would not 
be changed. 

It is worth noting 
that at this time, in 
1652, Massachusetts 
issued a coinage of 
its own. On one 
side of the coins were 
" Massachusetts " and a pine tree, and on the other, " New 
England " and the date. There is nothing on the coins to 
suggest that the colony was subject to England. 

100. Intentions of Massachusetts. There is no reason to 
suppose that Massachusetts had any thought at this time of 
secession from the empire. Her aim apparently was to 
secure to herself the position of a free state in a group ^ of 
political equals. Constitutionally, the question of that day 
was : Are all the states of the empire equally free and self- 
governing, or is one state, because of her greater power, to be 
permitted to dominate the rest ? ^ 




PINE-TREE SHILLING OF MASSACHUSETTS 



1 The constitutional issue of that day cannot be emphasized too much. At 
the moment of the execution of Charles, the empire consisted of fourteen states. 
In Europe, besides the petty states of Cornwall, Wales, and the Isle of Man, 
there were the three kingdoms, England, Scotland, and Ireland. In America 
were the eight colonies. Several of the states, including( Scotland and most of 
the American ones, denied that they had ever had any sovereign except the 
king, and refused to admit the authority over them of any legislature except 
their own. From the moment of the king's death -^ in fact", for some time 
previous — one of the states of the empire, powerful England, claimed the right 
to a dominating position with regard to the rest. 

2 The men of that day did not clearly phrase the question. None the less it 
underlay their thought, and may truly be said to have been the basal issue of 



72 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Though the men of Massachusetts had no plan of campaign, 
no definite scheme for reorganizing the empire, they were 
determined not to yield to any one state, even mighty England, 
the position of dictator. 

101. The Constitutional Issue Sidetracked. Whether they 
would have been able to hold their own except for the dissen- 
sions which now arose in England is doubtful, but fortune 
favored them. The spHt in the parliamentary party which 
led to the seizure of supreme power in England by Cromwell 
was their salvation. He was proclaimed Lord Protector in 
December, 1653. This was virtually a restoration of the 
kingship under a new name in a new line of descent. All the 
old questions of the authority of the sovereign over his subjects 
now revived.^ But this new question of the right of one parlia- 
ment to control the other parliaments temporarily disappeared. 

II. TIIE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION 

102. The First Political Issue Strictly American. The 

issues which give significance to American history previous to 
the outbreak of the war between king and Parliament are of 
world-wide significance. Free government and religious 
toleration were European questions before they were American 
ones. But with the outbreak of the English civil war, other 
issues appear of a different sort. One of these we have 
examined in the preceding section of this chapter. We turn 
now to another. It is the first issue which we may, in a strict 
sense, call " American," — that is to say, it is the first issue 
growing directly out of American conditions and out of 
nothing else. It is the question how American states may be 
related one with another by their voluntary action. It arose 

the time in America. Winthrop boldly asserted "our allegiance binds us not 
to the laws of England any longer than while we live in England, for the laws 
of the Parliament of England reach no further." . . . For a full discussion, 
sec Beer, "Origins of the British Colonial System." 

' For a glimpse of the tact of Cromwell with regard to America, see this 
chapter, section 112, 



MIDDLE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 73 

through the relations of Massachusetts to the other three 
states which formed with it the " United Colonies." 

103. The First Confederation in America. We have seen 
that the confederation of the " United Colonies " was effected 
in 1643 (section 96). Fear of the Dutch and fear of the 
Indians were the chief causes that led the four colonies to unite. 
This earliest American confederation was formed for the 
purpose of creating out of four^ distinct states a combined 
power that might provide for each a degree of protection it 
could not provide for itself. 

104. The Dutch Peril. There was good reason for the 
colonies to fear the Dutch. Though the crown of England 
still claimed all the Atlantic coast from Canada to Florida, 
that claim had not been made good. Dutchmen, led by 
Henry Hudson, in 1609, had explored the Hudson River. 
The Dutch had later occupied Manhattan Island and settled 
the town of New Amsterdam. Going up the Hudson, they 
had settled Fort Orange, which is now Albany. Between 
these two points along the great river they had established 
feudal estates under hereditary lords called " patroons." 
Turning eastward from Manhattan, they formed settlements 
on Long Island, and, in 1633, built the Fort of Good Hope on 
the Connecticut River (section 95). Holland had lately be- 
come a great commercial power, and the relations of England 
and Holland under the Stuart kings were seldom friendly. 
From the moment the New Englanders knew of that Dutch 
fort on the Connecticut they began to dread a Dutch in- 
vasion. The grounds for alarm increased as the New England- 
ers moved down into the lower valley of the river (section 93) . 
That movement also brought them into hostile contact with 
the Indians. 



^ Rhode Island and Maine were not admitted to the Union, for religious 
reasons. Maine was Anglican, Rhode Island was accused of being unreliable 
(section 74). It was offered membership in the Union, if it would consent to be 
annexed to an orthodox and "stable" colony, — either Massachusetts or 
Plymouth. Needless to say, Rhode Island declined. 



74 AMERICAN HISTORY 

105. The Pequot War. The western movement into the 
valley of the Connecticut was interrupted in 1637 by a brief 
but bloody war with the Pequot tribe. Whether the Dutch 
had any hand in stirring up the Pequots to resist the advance 
of the English, we cannot say. But certain it is that the 
Pequots made a stand against the newcomers. The EngUsh, 
however, were able to persuade the Narragansett tribe to 
take sides with them. Together, a force of English and Narra- 
gansetts attacked the Pequots, who occupied an entrenched 
camp not far from the present site of Stonington. The camp 
was carried by storm, and its occupants were massacred. 
This one bold stroke ended the war. 

106. The Problem of Confederation. From this time 
forward New England was constantly on the lookout for 
signs of an alliance between the Dutch and the Indians. Thus 
there was good reason for the four colonies to unite in a league 
of mutual protection. But how the league was to be made 
satisfactory to all concerned was a knotty problem. To 
illustrate : Massachusetts had fifteen thousand inhabitants ; 
Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven together had only 
nine thousand. If war broke out, what part of the army of 
the United Colonies should be raised by Massachusetts? 
The natural answer would seem to be that the number of 
men furnished by Massachusetts should be to the number 
furnished by the other colonies in the ratio of 15 to 9. But 
was such a plan to be followed throughout? In a council of 
war, should Massachusetts have fifteen votes and only nine 
be allowed to the rest of the colonies? This would appear to 
be logical, but it would amount to giving Massachusetts 
control of the league. Much as the three smaller colonies 
desired union, they were resolved not to become the play- 
things of their stronger neighbor. 

107. Constitution of the United Colonies. This attitude of 
the lesser members determined the main feature of the gov- 
ernment of the United Colonies. Each member was allowed 
an equal share in it. A board of federal commissioners was 



MIDDLE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 75 

established, two from each colony, and these eight men formed 
the miniature congress of the little confederacy. Any measure 
approved by six of the eight was binding on all the United 
Colonies. The commissioners had general supervision of 
all matters in which the whole group of colonies had a common 
interest : such as their relations with the Dutch and the 
Indians, and the recapture of criminals or indentured servants^ 
who had fled from one colony to another. In case of war, 
the expenses were to be divided among the colonies in propor- 
tion to the number of their male inhabitants between the ages 
of sixteen and sixty. 

108. First Instance of Nullification. For some twenty 
years the government of the United Colonies was a real 
power in America. Later it lost influence and in time was 
abolished.^ Only one episode in its history is here worth 
mention. This occurred in 1653 when the dread of a Dutch 
invasion reached its height. England and Holland had gone 
to war and in New England a rumor got abroad that the 
Dutch and Indians together were planning a general massacre 
of the settlers on the Connecticut. Many people, especially 
in the western settlements, began clamoring for an attack 
upon the Dutch. They wanted to strike before their enemies 
were prepared. Even the federal commissioners caught the 
alarm and voted to attack the Dutch. But the Massachusetts 
General Court flatly refused to concur. Says one of the 
chief authorities on those times : "It declared that under 
the Articles of Confederation (which were the constitution 
of the union) the general courts were ... at liberty to act 
in every case according to their consciences " which, Professor 
Channing continues, " was a Seventeenth Century way of 

^ The legislation on the return of servants anticipates the fugitive slave laws 
of a later age. An "indentured" servant was one bound by contract to serve 
a specified number of years. 

^ It lost influence from the moment of the Restoration. The power of 
the crown was used whenever possible to discredit it. But the Union did 
not entirely collapse until the Massachusetts charter was suppressed in 
1684. 



76 AMERICAN HISTORY 

asserting what came to be called later the doctrine of nulli- 
fication." ^ 

A sharp contention followed between Massachusetts on 
the one hand and the federal commissioners on the other. 
But the men of Massachusetts would not give way. They 
insisted that the war scare was unnecessary, and they stub- 
bornly refused to equip their two thirds of the confederate 
army. The question at last went over, undecided, to the next 
meeting of the commissioners. Before that meeting took 
place, England and Holland signed a treaty of friendship, 
(1654), and the fear of a Dutch invasion of New England 
passed away, 

III. THE COLONIES UNDER CROMWELL 

109. First Period of Pause. The colonies mentioned 
hitherto were the outcome of the interest felt by Englishmen 
in America during the first half of the seventeenth century. 
That interest was very great between 1620 and 1640. After 
1640 Englishmen became engrossed in their home affairs and 
America was neglected. Subsequent to the restoration of the 
Stuart monarchy (1660), interest in America revived. But 
for some twenty-five years following 1640 the connection 
between East and West in the British empire was slight. 
This period forms the first breathing space, so to speak, in 
American history. 

110. Characteristics of the Colonies. The settled parts of 
the colonics were mere fringes bordering the sea and the larger 
rivers. Except for the hardships inevitable in frontier coun- 
tries, the settlers lived as they had been accustomed to live 
in England. The new conditions of life in America had not as 
yet had any marked effect upon their characters. The great 
differences among them were due to peculiarities of religion, 
or of feeling, which had been formed in England. However, 

* "History," I, 420. Professor Hart calls the action of the General Court, 
"the first nullification of a federal act." "Contemporaries," I, 452. See 
Osgood, "Colonics," I, 404-406. 



MIDDLE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 77 



their new country, with its new conditions, was destined to 
develop those original peculiarities into new characteristics 
not always to be recognized as expansions of the old. Already 
the colonists tended to draw together in groups that were, to 
an exceptional degree, of the same way of thinking. To 
illustrate : a member of the Church of England would natu- 




EASTERN NORTH AMERICA IN 1650 

rally avoid setthng in Massachusetts. For such an emigrant 
there was a choice of four colonies : Maine and Virginia, where 
his rehgion was predominant ; Rhode Island and Maryland, 
where it was tolerated. As the rehgious temper of the time 
was so generally exclusive, the Anglican as a rule chose one 
of the colonies where his own faith prevailed. Maine being 
a failure, Virginia became his natural goal. Similarly the 



78 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Puritan who wanted a state church of his own persuasion 
went to Massachusetts, or New Haven ; ^ if somewhat more 
hberal, to Cormecticut; if very Hberal, to Plymouth. To 
Rhode Island went the extremists of all parties. Some 
Puritans, who felt that even stern Massachusetts was too 
lenient upon " heresy," turned bitterly away and made Rhode 
Island their home.- Side by side with them dwelt visionaries 
who advocated the abolition of all social restraints — • " nihi- 
lists," wc should call some of them to-day. But so long as 
they did not break the civil law, Rhode Island let them theo- 
rize to their hearts' content. 

111. The Rights of Englishmen in America. None of 
the colonists thought of themselves as Americans. They were 
still Englishmen. They felt that in crossing the Atlantic 
they had not parted with any of the rights they had enjoyed 
at home. Chief among these was the right to have a legisla- 
ture of their own choice. This was the great principle of 
representative government which the English had slowly 
worked out during many centuries. Their devotion to this 
idea was what inspired in the people of Massachusetts their 
refusal to acknowledge the Long Parhament. They had no 
representatives in that Parliament. Under the sovereign, 
they would have no ruler but their own elected, represen- 
tative General Court. The people of Virginia differed from the 
New Englanders in being ardent royaHsts,^ but were probably 

' New Haven was the most severely Puritanical of all the colonies. The 
Bible was the basis of New Haven law. 

- It was a scornful sneer of the Puritans that any one who had lost his rcliRion 
would find it somewhere in Rhode Island. 

'Subsequent to 1649, many English ro_valists removed to \'irginia, thus 
enabling later times to think of it as " the Cavalier colony." The olTicial agents 
of the colony, in 1675, made the declaration that "the Virginians are and have 
ever been heartily affectionate and loyal to the monarchy of England, and under 
that to their present government of Virginia, constituted, they humbly conceive, 
in imitation of it. The New Englanders have obtained the power of choosing 
their Governor, but the Virginians would not have that power, but desire that 
their governor may from time to time be appointed by the King." Randolph 
Ms,, III, 331, quoted in "Institutional History of Virginia," P. A. Bruce, II, 



MIDDLE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 79 

quite as resolute to have their own legislature, not England's 
legislature, for their governing body. 

112. Cromwell and America. Curiously enough, it was 
under the reign of a military dictator that the colonies were 
allowed the largest measure of freedom they ever had until 
they left the empire. It followed upon the assumption by 
Cromwell of sovereign power (section loi). Cromwell's 
difhculties at home were great. Except his army, which was 
devoted to him, he had but a doubtful following. Therefore, 
though he crushed opposition in England with a heavy hand, 
he was most adroit in dealing with the colonies. The last 
thing he wished to do was to draw off any part of his army to 
conquer America. 

In Virginia the government established by the Parlia- 
mentary commissioners (section 98) was allowed to continue 
uninterrupted during the Protectorate.^ Maryland was 
recovered by Lord Baltimore, and the civil war there (section 
87) was brought to an end through Cromwell's interference. 
Baltimore acknowledged the Protector as his sovereign and 
promised not to punish the Puritans for their revolt.^ 

New England was treated with even greater kindness, for 
Cromwell wished to recruit his party among the American 
Puritans. With that end in view, he tried to bring about 
emigration from New England to Ireland and Jamaica. His 
efforts were not successful. But throughout his reign he 
refrained from interfering in the affairs of the Puritan colonies. 

113. The Navigation Act. So it came about that during 
the Protectorate, the Americans were left pretty much to 
themselves. In one respect, indeed, Cromwell legislated for 
them. He maintained a navigation act, which had been 
passed by ParHament, during the Commonwealth (1651). 

281. Manj' of the famous families of Virginia were founded by royalist refugees 
who came over subsequent to 1649. 

1 We should distinguish between the Commonwealth and the Protectorate 
as sharply as between the French Revolution and the Empire of Napoleon. 

^ See section 87. 



8o 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



This act provided that certain goods should not be imported 
into the colonies or exported from them, except in ships 
belonging ^' to the people of this Commonwealth or the 
plantations (colonics) thereof." ^ Here was a plain assertion 
that England controlled the great imperial matter of com- 
merce. As yet, however, the colonies were glad enough to 
let England foster trade in any way she might, and the far- 
reaching implications of the act were not contested. 

114. The Empire under 
Cromwell. Had Cromwell 
succeeded in making his 
power secure, there is reason 
for thinking that he would 
have shared the government 
of England with a free 
Parliament. How, in that 
event, the all-powerful Pro- 
tector would have treated 
the colonies we do not know. 
The actual composition of 
the empire, while Cromwell 
reigned, is the thing to re- 
member. A mighty sover- 
eign at London allowed the 
American states practically to rule themselves. Though he 
kept in his own hands the imperial control of commerce, he 
entirely swept aside the claim of the British Parliament to 
have authority, independent of the sovereign, over the English 
in America. 

Note. In spite of the claims of the English kings, only a small part 
of the Atlantic seaboard was occupied, in 1650, by their subjects. Two 
other nations attempted to compete with the English. In the valley of 
the Hudson, the Dutch established their colony of New Netherland, to 

1 There were various other provisions. The act is summarized in Mac- 
donald, " Documentary Source Book," 55, as introduction to what is usually 
known as the " First Navigation Act," which was estabUshcd in 16C0. 




GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 



MIDDLE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 8i 

which reference has been made. The Swedes also wished to plant a 
colony in America, and their great king, Gustaviis Adolphus, encouraged 
the project. What is known as the South Company of Sweden, modeled 
on the Dutch West India Company, undertook to create a Swedish colony. 
In 1638 Peter Minuit built Fort Christina (named for Christina, Queen 
of Sweden, daughter of Gustavus Adolphus) where now stands Wilming- 
ton, Delaware. The surrounding country was named New Sweden. But 
the colony never prospered and its life was brief. In 1655 it was conquered 
by the Dutch and annexed to New Netherland. 

Selections from the Sources. Macdonald, Documentary Source Book, 
Nos. 7 (Charter to Patroons), 9 (Fundamental Orders), 10 (Articles of 
New Haven), 13 (Government of New Haven), 11 (Patent of Providence 
Plantation, or Rhode Island), 12 (New England Confederacy) ; Charters 
and Constitutions, 774 (Grant of Maine to Sir Ferdinando Gorges), 1270 
(Grant of New Hampshire) ; Hart, Contemporaries, I, Nos. 1 13-13 1, 
150-159; American History Leaflets, No. 7, for brief extracts from 
records of the Confederation ; Cromwell, Letters, IV, 74, 133 (Carlyle's 
edition), for Cromwell's interference in Maryland ; Winthrop, New 
England. 

Secondary Accounts. Fiske, Beginnings of New England, chap, iv ; 
Dutch and Quaker Colonies, I ; Channing, History, I, XV-XIII ; Beer, 
British Colonial System, chaps, xi-xiii ; Osgood, Colonies, I, 301-331, 
371-422, II, 95-116, 141-157, III, 105-141 ; Doyle, Puritan Colonies, 
I, 149-178, 190-319,11, 116-125, 155; WiNSOR, Narrative and Critical 
History, IV, 443-448; Johnson, Swedish Settlement on the Delaware; 
Thwaites, Colonics, 51, 201, 202, 208-211, 217, 221, 222. 

Topics for Special Reports. 1. Geography of English America in 
1650. 2. The Formation of Connecticut. 3. The Colony of New 
Haven. 4. The New England Confederacy. 5. The Dutch on the 
Hudson. 6. New Sweden. 7. The Colonies and the Long Parlia- 
ment. 8. The Colonies and Cromwell. 



SECOND PERIOD (1658-1766) 
EAST AND WEST IN THE BRITISH EMPIRE 

CHAPTER VIII 

THE SECOND ADVANCE OF THE ENGLISH 
I. ROYAL EXPLOITATION OF AlVIERICA 

115. The American Policy of Charles 11. Every king of 
the Stuart dynasty, sometime during his reign, tried to set up 
despotic government in the colonies. The most astute of 
these treacherous monarchs was Charles 11.^ Not only with 
a view to strengthening his own power but also for the purpose 
of enriching his friends, Charles stealthily schemed to make 
the crown irresistible in America. 

Among the various measures through which Charles sought 
his end, stands conspicuous his treatment of New Haven. 
It was in that stronghold of Puritanism that two of the judges- 
who had condemned Charles I to death had lately found a 
refuge. Charles demanded their heads. As the collapse of 
the English Commonwealth had been followed by a violent 
reaction in favor of the Stuarts, Charles, in his demand for 
vengeance on the judges of his father, had, for the moment, 
the support of the nation. When New Haven came between 

' The great Protector died in 165S. His weak son, Richard, who succeeded 
him, abdicated in 1659. Moderate men of all parties then came together in a 
plan to restore kingship, shorn of much of its old power. The son of Charles I 
assented to their scheme of a constitutional monarchy. On that understanding 
he was crowned in 1660. 

* Edward Whallcy and William Gofife. They successfully eluded their 
pursuers. 

82 



THE SECOND ADVANCE OF THE ENGLISH 83 

him and his prey, it invited destruction. In an adroit fashion, 
characteristic of Charles, than whom there never was a 
wilier poHtician, the destruction of New Haven was swiftly 
accomplished. 

116. The Connecticut Charter. The king found his in- 
strument in the ambitions of Connecticut. In contrast with 
New Haven, Connecticut had spared no pains to win his favor. 
Neither of these colonies, it should be remembered, had as 
yet any official warrant for its existence. Hoping to secure 
a royal charter, Connecticut had sent John Winthrop, Jr., to 
London. In Winthrop's mission the revengeful but sly 
Charles saw his opportunity. Connecticut received a charter 
extending her boundaries from " Narrogancett River ... to 
the South Sea." That is. New Haven was to be wiped off the 
map and all its territory added to Connecticut. Naturally, 
the men of New Haven bitterly resented the king's action. 
For a moment there was danger of civil war in New England, 
but Connecticut's generous use of her success in time restored 
good feeling. 

117. Rhode Island Befriended by the King. Rhode Island 
also was befriended by the king. His motive, in this case, 
is not entirely plain. Perhaps, because of the enmity felt 
by all his dynasty toward Massachusetts, he aimed to 
strengthen its enemies. Be that as it may, Rhode Island, 
in 1663, received a royal charter which defined its area and 
bestowed upon it the right to elect its governor.^ 

118. The Carolina Grant. From punishing his enemies, 
Charles turned to rewarding his friends. That great extent of 
lowland, where are now the states of North and South Carolina,^ 

^ The same privilege was granted to Connecticut. Thus royal sanction was 
given to the type of colony contrasting both with the proprietary type and with 
the type of the royal province whose governor was appointed by the king. 
Those colonies which had appropriated the right to elect their governors were, 
before the end of the century, deprived of it (see section 158). 

^ There had been several attempts to settle this region previous to the Res- 
toration. Ribault visited it in the sixteenth century. Raleigh's settlers 
came next Charles I granted " the province of Carolana " to Sir Robert Heath, 



84 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



was made over, in 1663, to eight lords and gentlemen as Joint 
proprietaries. Conspicuous among them was Charles' prime 
minister, the Earl of Clarendon ; another was the Duke of 
Albemarle who had done more than any other man to make 
Charles king ; Sir Anthony Ashley-Cooper, better known as 
the Earl of Shaftesbury, another leading royalist, was also 
among the eight. A second charter, in 1665, defined their 
vast domain as extending from 29° to 36° 30', north lati- 
tude, — covering the whole 
of the present Carolinas, 
with much of Florida, — 
and east and west from 
the sea to sea. 

119. Locke's Constitu- 
tion. The great philoso- 
pher, John Locke, was 
called in by the proprietors 
of Carolina to devise a sys- 
tem of government. They 
wanted a model aristocracy 
which should be ''agreeable 
to the monarchy." Locke's 
" Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina " attempted to 
meet their demands. It provided for a social system based 
on feudal principles. At the top was to be a colonial nobility 
with hereditary titles and seats in the colonial parHament ; 

but the grant lapsed. From Virginia probably came the first permanent set- 
tlers in the Carolinas. They took up land along the Chowan River. These 
settlements were formed previous to 1663 ; they extended gradually along the 
north shore of Albemarle Sound, forming the germ of present North Carolina. 
There was also an early but unsuccessful attempt to establish a settlement 
on Cape Fear River. An expedition from New England prospected there, but 
abandoned the country previous to the grant of 1663. Other unsuccessful 
attempts were made by colonists from the Barbadoes. Sir John Yeamans is 
the chief figure connecting South Carolina with the Barbadoes. He was the 
first governor of Carolina. In 1669 a fleet left England having aboard emi- 
grants to Carolina; it touched at the Barbadoes and at Bermuda. The first 
permanent settlement in South Carolina was made in April, 1670, on the Ashley 
River. From this settlement developed the present city of Charleston. 




THE CAROLINA GRANT OF 1663 



THE SECOND ADVANCE OF THE ENGLISH 85 



at the bottom were to be " leetmen," bound to the soil like the 
serfs of the Middle Ages. But all this was too reactionary 
for the end of the seventeenth century. The philosopher's 
scheme gave way to a more democratic system in which a 
colonial legislature en- 
acted laws subject to 
the veto of the pro- 
prietaries. 

120. The Creation of 
New York. An oppor- 
tunity to create an- 
other great proprietary 
colony arose in 1664 
when commercial rival- 
ries had brought Eng- 
land and Holland to the 
verge of war. With 
his usual adroitness, 
Charles II turned the 
English war feeling to 
his own account. Dis- 
patching a fleet and 
army to conquer the 
Dutch colonies in America, he granted all those lands to his 
brother the Duke of York. It was in 1664 that the English 
appeared before New Amsterdam. The town was ill-prepared 
to resist and the townspeople forced the commandant, Peter 
Stuyvesant, to surrender. It was renamed New. York. 

121. New Jersey. The Duke of York began subdividing 
his great domain^ even before he was in possession of it. The 

1 His possessions extended from the Delaware to the Connecticut rivers. 
In spite of the charter of Connecticut, it was held that all the country which 
the Dutch had occupied belonged to the Duke. He also acquired all that 
part of Maine east of the Kennebec. The western part of Maine had previously 
been annexed to Massachusetts, though claimed by the heirs of Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges (section 92). Massachusetts finally purchased their claim in 1677. 
See Acts of the Privy Council relative to America, I. 




00 100 150 



LANDS OF THE DUKE OF YORK 

Dates of scparaUon of outlying portions from the 
government of New York. 



86 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



region between the lower Hudson and the Delaware was given 
to Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley. This grant was 
the foundation of the present state of New Jersey.^ 

122. The King's Attention Withdrawn from America. 
Though Charles never lost his desire to make gain in America, 
there was a period in his reign during which he was compelled 
by circumstances to confine his attention to Europe. It was 
a period of terrible catastrophes. The Dutch war, though it 
ended with the formal cession of Dutch America (1667), in- 
cluded some deep humiliations to Eng- 
lish pride. In the midst of disaster the 
Plague appeared at London and made 
the capital of the empire a vast pest- 
house. It was followed by the lire of 
London which laid the capital in ashes. 
While patriotic Englishmen were strug- 
gling to save their country from ruin, 
the unscrupulous king saw a new chance 
to advance his own interests. By the 
secret Treaty of Dover (1670) he be- 
came the paid servant of the king of 
France. Louis XIV agreed to pay 
him a large sum yearly, and in return Charles promised 
to make every effort to control ParHament in the interests 
of France. It is doubtful if one king ever made a more 
shameful bargain with another. But it had an immediate 
effect on England, and indirectly an effect upon America. 
For several years Charles was busy playing a deep game of 
political trickery. During this period he did little by way of 
advancing his American schemes. For a few years before and 
after 1670 he practically ceased to meddle with the colonies. 




' In 1674 it was divided into East and West New Jersey, each with a pro- 
prietary government of its own. West New Jersey came under the control 
of the Quakers. Subsequently both Jersies were controlled by a Quaker 
syndicate. They were united in 1702 and became the royal province of New 
Jersey. 



THE SECOND ADVANCE OF THE ENGLISH 87 

n. THE STRUGGLE TO POSSESS THE LAND 

123. The Indian Danger. The colonies were not permitted 
to spend this interval in peace. By the irony of fate one cause 
of anxiety was replaced by another. While the king was 
occupied in Europe, the Indians for the first time became 
aggressive on a great scale in America. 

Most of the seaboard was now occupied. During the first 
fifteen years of Charles' reign emigration to the colonies had 
been constant. To Virginia went many gallant gentlemen 
who had lost all in the service of the kings and saw no way to 
retrieve their fortunes at home. To New England went 
many Puritans dissatisfied with the restored jnonarchy. 
Quakers and Presbyterians found refuge in New Jersey. 
French Huguenots and English dissenters, as well as loyal 
Anglicans, turned their eyes toward the Carohnas. The 
settlements along Albemarle Sound appealed to bold adven- 
turers of all sorts. All along the coast the population was 
fast increasing. Steadily the west border of every settlement 
moved inward. By the end of the third quarter of the century 
there were perhaps one hundred and fifty thousand British 
subjects in America. 

Hitherto they had been too busy with their own affairs to 
think much about the natives. Except for a few fierce clashes 
like the Virginia massacre (section 57) and the Pequot War 
(section 105) the relations of the two races had been friendly. 
In the main the white men had dealt fairly — according to the 
ideas of that time — with the red men. That is to say, they 
had paid them what they asked for their land. But the simple 
Indians were content with very little. They accepted trifling 
things which caught their fancy, — beads, copper kettles, 
knives, arms, trinkets,^ — retired into the forest, and left the 
strangers in possession of their hunting grounds along the 
coast. 

^ In 1626 the Dutch, in exchange for Manhattan Island, gave the Indians a 
supply of beads and ribbons worth about twenty-four dollars. 



88 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



'§2J 



M A M V S S B 
WUNNEETL'1'ANATaMWE 

UP-BIBLUM GOD 



pNLIKKON£ TESTAMENT r^ 

K A H W O N K ?5 

WLISKU TESTAMENT. B, 



Ne qiuIhiiDiain>iJ[ mlhjie Wuninnnungb ^H RlSt 

JOHN ELIOT- 



Seventy years had passed during which the great wilderness 
at the back of the settlements gave ample hunting ground to 
all the Indian tribes. While the settlers along the coast 
plowed their fields or sat around their firesides, painted 
warriors, decked in furs and feathers, roamed the western 
\m}m mnmmmim ^^mm.g horizon through the silences 

^ of the forest. The men of 
the coast went their own 
way politically, never giving 
a thought to the politics of 
the wilderness. But all 
that while a momentous 
political change was slowly 
taking place in the depths 
of the savage land. A great 
Indian power had been 
formed. The rise of this 
power contained for those 
unsuspecting colonists a 
dreadful danger. 

124. The Five Nations. 
The greatest of the Indian 
races were the Iroquois, 
who were also known as the 
Five Nations.^ They had 
formed a confederacy with 
its headquarters in what is 
now central New York, and 
had extended their rule from 
the Green Mountains to the Ohio River. This powerful 
alliance blocked the path of the coast Indians as they retreated 
westward. Furthermore, the Iroquois were following a 
policy of expansion. All along their borders they were con- 
quering their neighbors or driving them before them. 
Presently the retreating Indians of the coast began to feel the 
' Mohawks, Onondagas, Cayugas, Oneidas, Senecas. 



C A At B R I D a e ■ 

Ptinlcuoopnaftpc Sjifmti Crttn kjh M»Tm*ii*is J^hnfm 
16 6 1. 



I 






3<» 

o«» 
^ 

iij4 ,,.;,.,. ..\A'i'iiiM'MM 

TITLE-PAGE OF ELIOT'S Ii\DL\N BIBLE 

Translation : "The whole Holy Bible of God, 
both Old Testament and also New Tes- 
tament. This translated by the Servant 
of Christ who is called John Eliot. Cam- 
bridge : Printed by Samuel Green and 
Marmaduke Johnson, 1663." 



THE SECOND ADVANCE OF THE ENGLISH 89 

might of the Iroquois. Those grim masters of the interior 
began to press them back toward the sea. But all along the 
sea were the English pressing steadily inward. Some time 
about 1670 the coast Indians, north and south, perceived 
that they were caught in a trap. Between the English 
and the Iroquois they would be crushed to death. 

125. King Philip's War. Such appears to be the explana- 
tion of the sudden and terrible rush of the coast Indians back 
toward the sea. In 1675 settlers were murdered by Indians 
both in Virginia and New England. There followed the 
horrors of King Philip's War. Metacom, chief of the Pokano- 
kets, — better known by his English name of Philip, — sud- 
denly attacked the town of Swanzey on the frontier of Plym- 
outh. Frightful scenes of pillage, massacre, and the burning 
of whites alive over slow fires occurred at many places in 
New England during the next two years. That the Indians 
were fiendishly cruel cannot be denied. Neither can it be 
denied that the whites were moved to transports of fury and 
that they retaliated without mercy. The chief event of the 
war was the storming of the stronghold of the Narragansett 
tribe, amid December snows, in 1675. The Narragansetts 
were practically annihilated that day. The death of Philip, 
the next year, put an end to the hopes of the Indians. Before 
long they had been beaten at all points. Indians taken 
alive were sent to the West Indies and sold as slaves. But 
New England had paid a great price for her victory. It is 
estimated that one in every ten of the men of New England 
had been killed or captured by the Indians. A dozen 
towns had been burnt to the ground. 

126. The Virginian Misery. Fortunately the southern 
Indians had no such leader as Philip. Nevertheless, Virginia 
suffered more than in any Indian trouble since the great 
massacre. Some three hundred whites are said to have 
been killed. All the while terrible repol-ts from New England 
served as ghastly warnings of what might, at any moment, 
take place in Virginia. A fever of alarm and discontent took 



90 



AMERICAN HISTORY 




possession of the colony. There were other causes of it besides 
the Indian danger.^ During several years the harvests had 
been bad, and many people were feeling the pinch of want. 
The severe winter of 1672-1673 had killed off half the live 
stock in Virginia. In 1676 wheat and corn had grown so 
scarce that Governor Berkeley forbade the exportation of 
food to the Indian fighters of New England whose fields had 
been ruined. Strange to say, in spite of the greatness of the 
Indian danger, Berkeley refused to equip an adequate force 

to protect the colony. 
His motives are a prob- 
lem to this day. Per- 
haps he feared that 
any force he raised 
would turn against 
him. He had outlived 
his popularity and his 
rule was harsh and ex- 
travagant. The Vir- 
ginians accused him of 
the basest motives for 
holding back. They 
declared that his inter- 
est in the fur trade carried on by the Indians was what kept 
him from vigorous action. Finally a young planter, Nathaniel 
Bacon, defied the governor and took the lead in an unofficial 
expedition which won a victory over the Indians. Berkeley 
pronounced him a rebel for acting without authority and 
ordered his arrest. 

127. Bacon's Rebellion. Many people, however, sided 
with Bacon and the Indian war was converted into a civil war, 
during which Bacon and his partisans marched against James- 
town. Berkeley retreated, and the Virginia capital was burnt 

* For a full discussion of the various sources of discontent, in addition to the 
Indian danger, see Osgood, " Colonies," III, 244-258 ; also Channing, " History," 
n, 80-84. 






-,A.J£.; >? 



PIONEER HOME OF THE WASHINGTONS 



THE SECOND ADVANCE OF THE ENGLISH 91 

by the rebels. For a brief space Bacon was master of Vir- 
ginia. Then, suddenly, he died. His following melted away. 
Berkeley resumed control and set to work to stamp out 
discontent. He hanged thirty-seven ^ of the partisans of Bacon. 

128. The Culpepper Rebellion. This was not the end of 
the troubles in the South. There is an old tradition that 
Bacon hoped to persuade Maryland and the Carolinas to join 
Virginia in seceding from the empire and establishing a 
republic.^ Whether that was his purpose or not, it appears 
certain that he had friends in North Carolina and more than 
likely that some of his partisans found refuge in Albemarle 
(section 118, note 2). 

Very likely they took part in stirring up the discontent 
which broke out in what is known as the Culpepper Rebellion. 
The immediate cause was the arrest by the acting governor, 
Thomas Miller, of two men charged with the comparatively 
small offense of smuggling. At once there was a popular 
uprising in which John Culpepper took a leading part. Miller 
was deposed and thrown into prison. 

129. The Freedom of Albemarle. During the next few 
years the North Carolinians^ managed their own affairs pretty 
much as they pleased. They had their own little assembly and, 
once more, they forced an unpopular governor out of office. 
This was Seth Sothel, one of the proprietors of Carohna, 

1 The number is variously given. See Osgood, "Colonies," III, 278. 

^ It is plain that Berkeley's use of the powers of the governor had roused in 
Virginia a spirit of antagonism to monarchial authority. How general was this 
revolutionary temper we cannot say. Scholars differ with regard to its signifi- 
cance. The most conspicuous authority takes an extreme view : "Bacon was 
. . . fascinated by the dream of Colonial revolt and its indefinite possibilities. 
The plans which were to take shape a century later were already floating dimly 
before his mind. ... As an illustration of the way in which abuses resulting 
from the monopolization of power, because they occurred in a royal province, 
might be followed by an effort to renounce allegiance to the king. Bacon's re- 
bellion is the most significant event in the history of the colonies prior to 1760." 
Osgood, "Colonies," III, 275-276. 

^ Though the possessions of the proprietaries formed in theory one great 
province, North Carolina formed a division by itself, almost from the begin- 
ning. 



92 AMERICAN HISTORY 

who had come over to set things straight at Albemarle. He 
was tried by the assembly and formally banished from the 
colony. However, the men of Albemarle did not renounce 
their allegiance to the proprietors of Carolina, and in time 
good feehng was restored. 

III. QUAKERS AND HUGUENOTS 

130. The Province of New Hampshire. We now arrive 
at the close of that period in the reign of Charles II during 
which European affairs absorbed the king's attention. His 
stealthy use of the gold supplied to him by Louis (section 122) 
had so corrupted Parliament that Charles was very nearly, 
if not quite, master of the situation. Again he turned his 
eyes toward America to see what might there be done in the 
interests of the Stuart dynasty, and again his old enemy, 
Massachusetts, was made the object of attack. It will be 
remembered that the New Hampshire country had been appro- 
priated by Massachusetts (sections 92 and 96). This country 
Charles now seized, cut off from Massachusetts, and made into 
the royal province of New Hampshire with a governor ap- 
pointed by the king (1679). 

131. A New Effort for Toleration. Charles was not alone 
in his revival of interest in America. Others, for utterly 
different reasons, also turned their eyes toward the west. 
While the king was mutilating Massachusetts to create New 
Hampshire, Carolina received a party of French Protestants 
who were seeking to escape the harshness of Louis XIV. These 
were the advance guard of another widespread movement 
of Protestants westward. A new fever of persecution was 
breaking out in Europe. It culminated a few years later in the 
famous revocation by the French king of the Edict of Nantes, 
" that gracious decree," which had formerly secured the French 
Protestants in the practice of their religion. However, this 
late persecution was more an expression of royahsm than of 
religion. It was grounded on the principle that the subject 
should accept the faith of the king. In Scotland it was 



THE SECOND ADVANCE OF THE ENGLISH 93 

carried on by Anglicans almost if not quite as ruthlessly as in 
France by Catholics. Scotchmen followed Huguenots, seeking 
safety in the Carolinas. A band of Scotch exiles led by Lord 
Cardross founded Stuart Town, at Port Royal, South Carolina, 
a settlement destined to a tragic end. Other Scotch and other 
Huguenots added strong new elements to the population of 
America generally. With these were soon blended English 
and German Quakers. 

132. The Fourth Movement for Toleration. We have 
traced hitherto three movements for the freedom of the mind 
— the Sandys government in Virginia, the Catholic colony 
of Maryland, and Roger Williams' state of Rhode Island. 
The fourth such movement wliich ennobles our history in the 
seventeenth century found expression in two places. Carolina 
was not alone in opening her doors to the exiles for conscience' 
sake. A Quaker syndicate in England secured control of 
West New Jersey (section 121), and established there com- 
plete religious toleration. The Quakers also set up a demo- 
cratic form of government. " We put the power in the 
people," they said truly. Among the proprietors of New 
Jersey was William Penn. He determined to carry on the 
good work begun in New Jersey and form a still more impor- 
tant state on the west side of the Delaware River. Fortunately 
the king owed him a great sum of money. Penn asked to be 
paid with a grant of land in America. Consequently, in 1681, 
Charles paid his debt by issuing to Penn a charter for the 
proprietary colony of Pennsylvania.^ 

^ The grant to Penn involved him in a dispute with Maryland. Pennsyl- 
vania was described as extending westward 5° from the Delaware; its northern 
boundary was to be " the beginning of the three and fourtieth degree of Northern 
latitude"; its southern boundary "a circle drawn at twelve miles distant from 
New Castle northward and westward into the beginning of the fortieth degree 
of Northern Latitude and then by a straight line westward." The town of New 
Castle, on the west side of the Delaware, proved to be far south of the fortieth 
degree. The circle drawn around it did not at any point touch that degree. 
Thus the south boundary of Pennsylvania was an impossible line. Penn claimed 
that the "beginning of the fortieth degree" was on the line of the thirty-ninth 
parallel. The dispute was not settled in Penn's lifetime ; and was carried on 



94 



AMERICAN HISTORY 




BOUNDARY DISPUTE BETWEEN MARYLAND AND PENNSYLVANIA 



by his descendants. At last a compromise was made and the present Hne 
between Maryland and Pennsylvania was agreed upon. The straight part of 
it is latitude 39° 43' 26". It was run by two surveyors named Mason and 
Dixon in 1767. Hence it has been called ever since "Mason and Dixon's 
line." 

That region west of the lower Delaware which was once New Sweden was also 
given to Pcnn. It was known as "the Territories" and was plainly within the 
limits of the grant to Baltimore (section 77, note). But the claim of Maryland 
to this region was ignored. It forms the present state of Delaware, organized 
in 1 701, under a charter granted by Penn. The government set up under the 
charter was similar to that of Pennsylvania. 



.THE SECOND ADVANCE OF THE ENGLISH 95 

Immediately Penn set about putting into practice what he 
called his " Holy Experiment." He dreamed of establishing 
an ideal republic, in which, as he said, " the will of one man " 
should not any longer be able to " hinder the good of a whole 
country" — as was the case too often in the monarchies of 
the old world. But Penn was a practical statesman as well 
as a political dreamer. Though he held that " obedience 
without liberty is slavery," he also held that " hberty without 
obedience is confusion." 

133. The Beginning of Pennsylvania. Penn laid down the 
principle, so obvious to us to-day, that " governments, like 
clocks, go from the motion men give them ; and as governments 
are made and moved by men, so by them they are ruined 
too. Wherefore governments rather depend on men than 
men depend upon governments." Holding these views, he 
drew up a " Frame of Government " which became the con- 
stitution of Pennsylvania. It guaranteed complete religious 
toleration to all who acknowledged " one Almighty and Eternal 
God to be the Creator, Upholder, and Ruler of the World." It 
provided for a governor to be appointed by the Proprietor and 
a legislature elected by the people. 

Penn crossed the ocean and spent two years in his colony. 
He drew to him settlers from many lands. Besides the Eng- 
lish Quakers there were Welshmen and Scotchmen. German 
Quakers settled Germantown. Bethlehem and other villages 
were settled by Moravians. Penn himself laid out Philadel- 
phia in 1682. Before the end of the century Pennsylvania 
contained twenty thousand inhabitants. 

IV. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NORTHERN BOUNDARY 

134. A Rival of England in America. We have now reached 
the last stage of this period of expansion which forms the 
second advance of the English in America. In order fully 
to understand it, we must turn aside and observe what had 
taken place in other parts of America. 



96 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



The French discovery of the St. Lawrence River (section 23) 
led to the formation of the French colony of Acadia. Henry 
IV of France granted it to the Sieur de Monts, in 1603, de- 
lining its boundaries as the fortieth and the forty-sixth de- 
grees of latitude. Several settlements were made along the 
coast of what is now Nova Scotia and Maine. In 1608 Samuel 
de Champlain founded Quebec, but unfortunately for France 
made enemies of the Iroquois. 

Almost at once the French and English came to blows. 
The first armed clash was in 1613, when a party from Virginia, 




NIAGARA FALLS 

Reduced facsimile of an old print. Based doubtless on the earliest known picture of 
Niagara, which was published in the narrative of Father Hennepin in the seven- 
teenth century. 

led by Samuel Argall, broke up a French settlement on 
Mount Desert Island. There were other conflicts between the 
races, including the capture of Quebec by an English expedi- 
tion. But in 1632 by the Treaty of St. Germains the matter 
was settled temporarily, and France was given Nova Scotia 
and the St Lawrence Valley. 

The French set to work to build a colonial empire which 
they called New France. A succession of brave explorers and 
devoted missionaries carried the influence of France far into 
the west. They would have liked, doubtless, to advance 
directly south from Quebec, take possession of the upper 



THE SECOND ADVANCE OF THE ENGLISH 97 

Hudson, and come at once to close quarters with the EngHsh 
all along their western border. But this was rendered im- 
possible by the Iroquois. The Five Nations held all the south 
shore of Lake Ontario and resisted every attempt of the French 
to enter their territory. Unawares, they shielded the English 
during half a century. 

Turning westward along the north shore of Lake Ontario, 
the French became the first explorers of the Great Lakes. In 
1665 Father Allouez, a Jesuit missionary, reached Lake 
Superior. Soon there were Jesuit missions as far to the 
northwest as Mackinac and Sault Ste. Marie and at Green 
Bay in Wisconsin 

135. The Jesuit Missions. The efforts of these heroic 
French Jesuits to convert the Indians form one of the great 
chapters in the history of missionary daring. Many of them 
suffered martyrdom amid the cruellest tortures at the hands 
of the savages. The only effect was to rouse the survivors to 
greater zeal. Others pressed forward to take the places of 
the brave dead. Gradually the Jesuits took their captors 
captive and brought large numbers of the western Indians 
to accept Christianity and to acknowledge the king of France 
as their sovereign. But they never could convert the relentless 
Iroquois, never get a foothold on the south shore of Lake 
Ontario. 

136. Marquette. Perhaps the most famous of the Jesuit 
explorers was Marquette. The Indians of Lake Huron had told 
him of a great river flowing south through the western wilder- 
ness. This river he resolved to find. Starting from Green 
Bay, his little expedition went up the Fox River to its head ; 
carried their canoes overland to the head of the Wisconsin 
River ; descended it ; and on June 17, 1673, paddled out upon 
the Mississippi. Marquette explored the Mississippi as far 
south as the mouth of the Arkansas. There, thinking he 
was on the borders of Spanish territory, he turned back. On 
his way home, he ascended the IlHnois River and crossed the 
site of Chicago. 




FRENCH EXPLORATIONS OF THE MISSISSIPPI 
98 



THE SECOND ADVANCE OF THE ENGLISH 99 

137. La Salle. Marquette's discovery made a great im- 
pression on a French nobleman who was commandant at 
Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario. This was the famous 
La Salle, to whom Louis XIV had given a commission to 
establish forts in the interior of America. After three bold 
excursions into the Far West, La Salle, in 1681, set out on his 
final expedition to annex the Mississippi Valley to New France. 
He did not stop at the Arkansas as Marquette had done, but 
continued all the way to the gulf. Setting up the arms of 
France near the mouth of the river, he formally declared the 
whole country the property of the French king, and named it 
Louisiana (1682). 

138. The Strategic Position of the French. In this way 
the French had drawn a vast crescent at the back of the 
EngUsh. One tip reached the Atlantic in the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence ; while the other touched the Gulf of Mexico at 
the mouth of the Mississippi. The French king claimed as 
his all that immense area. If he made good his claim, 
English expansion westward would be checked forever. It 
might even be possible to drive the English into the sea and 
make France the chief power in North America. But, as the 
next step to that result, the French must secure the south 
shore of Lake Ontario with the upper valley of the Hudson. 
And there in the hollow of the crescent, between them and 
the English, were their bit- 
ter enemies, the Iroquois. 

139. The Friendship of 
the Iroquois. Such was the 
situation in 1683 when 
Thomas Dongan became signature of dongan 

Governor of New York. He was a Roman Cathohc Irishman. 
He was also a brave friend of the English in America, and he 
knew how to deal with Indians. In 1684, at Albany, occurred 
a memorable conference between Dongan and the chiefs of 
the Five Nations. A treaty was made in which the Iroquois 
acknowledged themselves subjects of England; agreed not 




lOO AMERICAN HISTORY 

to attack the frontier settlements of Virginia and Maryland 
and to allow the arms of the Duke of York to be set up in 
their villages as signs of their new allegiance. Thus, for the 
moment, the English were protected along the west. 

140. The War Cloud of 1686. But there was another 
menace to the peace of the colonies which at the time appeared 
even more serious. CaroHna was only two days' sail from 
St. Augustine. From St. Augustine a hundred years before 
(section 24) Menendez marched to destroy the Huguenots. 
The Spaniards still held the city. Beyond it to the south lay 
Cuba and all the vast extent of the Spanish American empire 
with its walled cities, its strong garrisons, and its great riches. 
There were no powerful Iroquois to protect the Southern Eng- 
lish, and the dread of Spanish invasion hung over the South 
hke a dark cloud. Suddenly, in 1686, the cloud burst. 

141. The Destruction of Port Royal. A Spanish expedition 
appeared at sea off Edisto Island, to the south of Charleston, 
and a landing party burnt the country house of the governor 
of Carolina, an English dissenter, Joseph Morton. Thence 
they proceeded to Stuart Town (Port Royal), which they 
utterly destroyed. After that the Spaniards sailed away. 

142. The French attack the Iroquois. About the same 
time the French attacked the Iroquois. A thousand French 
regulars marched into the country of the Five Nations. It 
was a crisis in the history of English America, but the 
governor of New Y^ork was equal to the emergency. He 
promptly suppHed the Iroquois with arms and ammunition. 
Thus supported, the Iroquois were able to hold their own. 
They even retaliated in a plundering raid into Canada. 

143. The Achievement of Dongan. Though the colonies 
were menaced from both sides, the government at London 
was very slow in taking action. In the case of Spain it never 
acted at all.^ With regard to France, however, something 
was at last done. The French king was notified that the 

' For the strange course of the CaroHna proprietors in the matter of Port 
Royal, see section 147. 



THE SECOND ADVANCE OF THE ENGLISH loi 

Iroquois were English subjects and the other colonial governors 
were ordered to unite with Dongan in protecting them. The 
chief credit for this firm stand appears to be due to that 
one brave Irishman. The position which he induced England 
to take was never abandoned. Years afterward, by the 
Treaty of Utrecht, in 17 13, France acknowledged the Iroquois 
to be English subjects. Thus the second advance of the Eng- 
lish reached, in the North, at least, a safe halting place. With 
the south shore of Lake Ontario in their hands, with the moun- 
tains east and west of New York for their natural fortifications, 
they were measurably secure against French invasion. If, 
however, they had lost northern New York, a back door 
would have been opened into their very midst. That such a 
door was not opened, that, on the contrary, it was shut in 
the face of France, is due chiefly to the patriotism and ability 
of Thomas Dongan. 

Selections from the Sources. Colonial Records of North Carolina, I, 5 ; 
Macdonalv, Source Book, No. 21 (the Carolina Charter); Macdonald, 
Select Charters, 149 (Fundamental Constitutions) ; Jameson, Narratives 
of New Netherland; Macdonald, Source Book, No. 20 (Grant to Duke of 
York); Drake's Edition of Increase Mather's Brief History ; Hub- 
bard, Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians; Burk, Virginia, II, 
247-250; Calendar of State Papers, America and West Indies, 1675- 
1676; Hart, Contemporaries, I, Nos. 70-71, 76, 77-81, 121,. 124-126, 132- 
136, 135-157, 161-168, 171, 172, II, Nos. 109-112, 117 ; Thwaites, Jesuit 
Relations and allied Documents. 

Secondary Accounts. Osgood, Colonics, III, 143-191, 242-357; 
Fiske, Dutch and Quaker Colonies; Paekman, Pioneers of France, 229- 
454; Jesuits in North America, La Salle, Old Regime, Frontenac, 1-183 ; 
WiNSOR, Cartier to Frontenac, 77-342 ; Fiske, Beginnings of New Eng- 
land, 199-241 ; McCrady, South Carolina, I, 39-222 ; Bassett, Constitu- 
tional Beginnings in North Carolina, 105-169 ; Fisher, True William 
Penn; Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, III, chaps, x, xii, iv, 
chaps, iv-viii, V, chaps., i, v. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. The Younger Winthrop. 2. John 
Locke. 3. The Conquest of New Netherland. 4. The Seaboard Indi- 
ans. 5. Bacon's Rebellion. 6. The Culpepper Rebellion. 7. The 
Society of Friends. 8. Quaker Ideas of Government. 9. Champlain. 

ID. The Jesuit Missions. 11. French Explorers of the Mississippi. 
12. Dongan. 



CHAPTER rX 

THE STUART TYRANNY 

144. The Crown attacks America. During the last years of 
the " Second Advance," Charles felt strong enough to aim a 
direct blow at American liberties. In England his craft 
and political skill had given him temporary control of the 
government, and he judged the time was ripe to destroy the 
free institutions of the West. The means he used were the 
same which had been used by James I (section 59) in his attack 
upon the Virginia Company.^ An English court was induced 
to pronounce the charter of Massachusetts null and void. 
Massachusetts became a royal province in October, 1684. 

145. The Duke of York becomes King. The following 
February Charles died and his brother, the Duke of York, 
became king, as James II. There were now four states in New 
England dependent on the royal will — Plymouth, which 
had no charter at all; New Hampshire, which had been a 
royal province since 1679 ; Massachusetts, which recently 
had been seized by the crown ; and Maine,- which had reverted 
to the crown along with Massachusetts. The new king was a 
born despot. As a step toward absolute power, he decided 
to unite all these provinces in one. In 1686 he sent over Sir 
Edmund Andros to govern the " Dominion of New England," ^ 
with his capital at Boston. The General Court of Massa- 

1 Professor Andrews, in his admirable text on English History, sums up the 
situation by saying (p. 305) : "Aided by powerful allies and subsidized by gold 
from France," Charles controlled the situation "through a clever manipulation 
of parties together with the dissensions of his opponents." 

* Western Maine, that is; Eastern Maine, beyond the Kennebec, was already 
in the possession of James. See section 121, note. 

'The "Dominion" was intended to embrace all the colonies northeast of 
the Delaware. As appears later, all that area submitted temporarily to .\ndros. 



THE STUART TYRANNY 



103 



chusetts was to be abolished and replaced by a Council 
appointed by the governor. Andros was also expected to 
destroy the free governments of Connecticut and Rhode 
Island. 

146. The American Policy of James II. One December 
day in 1686 Andros landed at Boston. He was attended by a 
force of British infantry — the famous "redcoats" — which 
the Americans were to learn to hate. That day was one of 




GREAT SEAL OF ANDROS 

the most momentous in American History, for the despotic 
designs of James were not Kmited to New England. Already 
he had abolished a representative assembly ^ recently estab- 
lished in New York. In Virginia his governor, Lord Howard, 
used the power of his office to silence criticism of the king and 
benefit the king's friends. With Virginia, New York, and 
New England dominated by the king, there seemed to be 
strong likelihood that despotic government would be made the 
order of the day in America. 

^ In New Netherland, just previous to the coming of the English, there was 
convened an assembly of delegates from all parts of the province. This landtdag 
was presided over by Jeremias van Rensselaer. But the English conquerors 
did not continue this institution. A code called "The Duke's Laws" was put 
into effect by Governor Nichols in 1665. Governor Dongan in 1683 convened 
the first general assembly of the province of New York. It drew up the famous 
"Charter of Liberties" of New York, which provided for triennial general as- 
semblies and gave freedom of worship to all Christians. The Charter of Liber- 
ties was set aside by authority of James in 1686. 



I04 AMERICAN HISTORY 

147. James and the Proprietaries. How entirely James 
intended to dominate America may be judged from an event 
which took place at this time in connection with Carolina. 
The Carolina proprietors were headed in 1686 by William, 
Earl of Craven, one of James' most unhesitating followers. 
The least wish of the king had the force of law with the earl. 
This fact explained the course of the proprietors in forbidding 
the Carolinians to take revenge on Spain for the destruction 
of Stuart Town (section 141). An expedition had been or- 
ganized at Charleston, and was about to sail for St. Augustine 
late in 1686, when a new governor, James Colleton, arrived 
from England with orders to permit no attempt at retaliation. 
He threatened to hang any one who lifted a hand against the 
Spaniards. The Carolinians were not ready for rebellion 
and the expedition was abandoned. Shortly after this the 
proprietors wrote to Colleton : " We are glad you have stopped 
the expedition against St. Augustine. If it had proceeded, 
Mr. Morton,^ Colonel Godfrey, and others might have an- 
swered it with their lives." The servility of the Carolina 
proprietors was but one more evidence of the momentary 
triumph of the principle of absolutism in English politics. 
James was friendly to Spain and the wishes of his American 
subjects counted for nothing. 

148. The Administration of Andros. The Stuart tyranny 
in America centers around the strong figure of Sir Edmund 
Andros. He was a brave soldier and a resolute man. He had 
been sent over to destroy free institutions and he meant to do 
so. Massachusetts was his first victim. There he made laws, 
levied taxes, held courts, without the least regard to the 
people's will. A notorious instance of his tyranny took place 
at Ipswich. The citizens having resolved that a tax levied by 
Andros " did infringe their hberties as free-born EngHsh sub- 
jects," refused to pay. For this resistance prominent men of 
Ipswich were brought to trial before a court specially con- 

' The former governor who had been removed by the proprietors to make 
room for Colleton. 



THE STUART TYRANNY 



105 



stituted by Andros. Some were fined, others were imprisoned. 
In the course of tlie trial, Joseph Dudley, chief justice under 
Andros, made the startling assertion that the colonists were 
outside the protection of the laws of England. He added 
" that the King's subjects in New England did not differ much 
from slaves and that the only difference was that they were 
not bought and sold." This summed up the Stuart policy. 

149. Andros in Rhode Island and Connecticut. If strong 
Massachusetts could not cope with Andros, what could weak 
little Rhode Island 

do ? Nothing. An- 
dros extended his 
tyranny over Rhode 
Island without op- 
position. Connecti- 
cut gave him more 
trouble. When he 
commanded the 
Connecticut author- 
ities to surrender 
their charter, they 
evaded doing so and 
Andros went to 
Hartford to compel 
the surrender. There is a tradition that he met the colonial 
officials in a conference by candle light with the charter in a 
strong box on a table between them; suddenly the candles 
were blown out, and when they were relit, the box with the 
charter had disappeared; the precious document had been 
carried off and liidden in a hollow tree known ever after as 
the charter oak. However, this did not keep Andros from 
becoming master of Connecticut. 

150. The Great Province. The power of the king's rep- 
resentative was now very great. James increased it by 
adding to the " Dominion " two colonies outside New 
England. In 1688 New York was added to the jurisdiction 




THE CHARTER OAK 



io6 AMERICAN HISTORY 

of Andros. New Jersey was also annexed by royal warrant. 
Thus the territory ruled despotically extended from the lower 
Delaware to Nova Scotia. James seemed to be in a fair 
way to accomplish his end and combine all his American 
dominions into one great province with a single despotic 
governor. 

151. James defeats his own End. The king, in his devo- 
tion to absolutism, was determined to thrust upon his 
subjects his own religion, which happened to be the Roman 
Catholic. In this he had the example of his cousin the king 
of France, who was the very embodiment of absolutism. 
But England was in a situation far different from that of 
France. Though many of her people believed in absolutism, 
almost none believed in Roman Catholicism. It has been 
estimated that only three per cent of the population be- 
longed to the Church of Rome. The nonconformists were 
also weak. As we have seen, great numbers of them had 
emigrated to America. It is doubtful if England was 
ever more soUdly Anglican than in 1688, and yet, as 
if to defy fate, James chose that moment to attempt the 
destruction of the English Church. What is known as 
" the trial of the Seven Bishops" took place in 1688. The 
bishops had petitioned the king to excuse the clergy from 
reading in their pulpits a royal proclamation considered by 
them a blow at the liberties of the Church of England. James 
ordered them tried on the charge that their petition was a 
" seditious libel." Their acquittal, and the rejoicings which 
followed it all over England — even among the king's soldiers 
who lay encamped near London — was the beginning of the 
end. Seven great personages signed a letter to William, Prince 
of Orange, James' son-in-law, asking him to come to England 
and take control of the government. Before the end of the 
year William landed in England and the revolution of 1688 
began. Shortly afterward James fled to France. His daughter 
Mary and her husband, the Prince of Orange, were proclaimed 
joint sovereigns of England. 



THE STUART TYRANNY 107 

152. End of the Stuart Power. The landing of WiUiam had 
been the signal for war. James was supported by the French 
and by the extreme royalists of England and Ireland. Three 
years passed before William was securely in possession of the 
throne, and could turn his attention to the colonies. Mean- 
while, great things took place in America. At Boston, the 
people rose and threw Andros into prison. A brave German, 
Jacob Leisler, headed a revolt in New York which forced 
Deputy Governor Nicholson to flee the country. A third 
rebellion broke out in Maryland. There, as everywhere 
throughout the colonies, the religion of the late king was 
used as a war cry to arouse popular indignation. A rage 
against the Roman Church was sweeping over America and, 
unfortunately, the Protestants of Maryland caught the pitiless 
infection. Once more there was a flurry of civil strife. Now, 
however, the Protestants outnumbered the Catholics ten to 
one. They seized the government, abolished the Act of 
Toleration, and proclaimed WilHam and Mary king and 
queen in Maryland.^ 

153. The French Attack. War began between England 
and France early in 1689. June 27, 1689, was an ominous day 
in American History, for on that day a party of French and 
Indians attacked an outlying village near Dover, New Hamp- 
shire. Some of the villagers were killed ; the others were 
carried off to Canada. The following February witnessed 
an event still more dreadful. In the dead of the night a party 
of French and Indians attacked the frontier village of Schenec- 
tady. Sixty of its people were killed ; some thirty were taken 
prisoners ; only about twenty escaped and fled across the snow 
to Albany. This brutal massacre increased the fury against 
everything associated with James II — his poHcy, his rehgion, 
his French alUes. 

154. The Congress of 1690. It also led to the first attempt 
of the American States to act in concert on a large scale. 
Leisler, who was temporary ruler of New York, called a 

^ For the effect on the government of Maryland, see section 158. 



io8 AMERICAN HISTORY 

congress. Delegates from Massachusetts, Plymouth, and 
Connecticut met with the men of New York in May and decided 
upon two expeditions against Canada. This was the beginning 
of what Americans have always called King William's War. 

Selections from the Sources. Hart, Contemporaries, I, Nos. 122, 135, 
136, 156, 157 ; Whitmore, Andros Tracts; Force, Tracts, Vol. IV. 

Secondary Accounts. Doyle, Puritan Colonics, II, 230-276; Chan- 
NixG, History, II, 31-43, 52-60, 165-213; Osgood, Colonics, III, 302- 
333, 378-469, 477-500 ; FiSKE, Beginnings of New England, chap, vi ; 
Kimball, Public Life of Joseph Dudley, chaps, ii and iii , McCrady, 
South Carolina, I, 217-234 ; Steiner, The Protestant Revolution in Mary- 
land (in Report of American Historical Association for 1897). The ac- 
count of the Revolution of 168S in Macaulay's History, partisan though it 
be, is justly a classic. For the Catholic view see Lingard, History, 
VII, chap. X, \TII. Bourgeaud, Rise of Democracy in Old and New 
England; And'R.ews, History of England, 391-412; Colonial Self Govern- 
ment, 252-287. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. Sir Edmund Andros. 2. Joseph 
Dudley. 3. Jacob Leisler. 4. The Dominion of New England. 5. 
The American Rebellion against James II. 6. William of Orange. 



CHAPTER X 

OUR FIRST GREAT TURNING POINT 

I. THE REORGANIZATION OF THE EMPIRE 

155. William's Policy. The able king who now ruled 
England knew little about America. Neither had he much 
interest in popular government. His chief aim in life was to 
curb the rising power of France and he had consented to be 
king of England with scarcely another thought than to bring 
the English into a league against Louis XIV. For eight years 
the War of the Grand Alliance raged on both sides of the 
Atlantic. As we have seen, the Americans called it King 
William's War. 

156. Events of King William's War. As William suc- 
ceeded in bringing Spain into the grand alliance against 
France, the Carolinas, for a time, were free from their natural 
dread of the Spaniards. In America the war became a North- 
ern event. One of the chief incidents of the war was the 
capture of Port Royal ^ by an expedition from Massachusetts 
led by Sir William Phips. This achievement was followed 
by the appointment of Phips as commander of one of the two 
expeditions planned by the congress of 1690. He sailed from 
Boston with some two thousand militiamen to attack Quebec. 
Up to this time Phips had seemed a bold and able man. But 
he bungled the Quebec expedition and at last ingloriously 
sailed home, having accomplished nothing. 

The other expedition of the congress was conducted better. 
John Schuyler, of New York, was the commander. He 
marched to the shore of the St. Lawrence opposite Montreal, 

1 Now Annapolis, Nova Scotia, not to be confus^ with Port Royal, South 
Carolina. 

109 



no 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



destroyed the crops of that region, and returned home without 
any serious loss to the Americans. 

No great events took place in America during the latter 
part of the war. By the Treaty of Ryswick, in 1697, each 
power restored to the other whatever territory it had con- 
quered and thus Port Royal was given back to France. 

157. William's Attitude to America. In the course of the 
war William found time to reorganize the government of the 
colonies. He had already reorganized the government of 





WILLIAM AND MARY 

England. The contrast between what was done in England 
and what was done in America reveals the lack of sympathy, 
possibly the contempt, which WiUiam felt for the colonies. In 
England the revolution of 1688 was the end of despotic king- 
ship. The famous Bill of Rights, passed by Parliament and 
accepted by William, gave the people of England control of 
their own government. It established for England the 
principle that there should be no taxation without represen- 
tation. Had the Bill of Rights extended to America, each 
colonial legislature would have been recognized as supreme 
in its own territory, and each American state would have had 



OUR FIRST GREAT TURNING POINT in 

the same footing in the empire as Scotland and Ireland. But 
the Bill of Rights was not allowed to extend to America.^ 
As we shall now see, William estabhshed the principle that 
the colonies were not separate states of the empire like Scotland 
and Ireland, but mere dependencies of the premier state of 
England. 

158. William's Governors. William sent out royal govern- 
ors of his own choice to replace the officials set up by the 
popular movements that had deposed Andros. In the main, 
the old governments of the colonies were restored, but im- 
portant changes were made. For example, though Massa- 
chusetts got back her General Court, she lost the right to elect 
her governor. Henceforth Massachusetts was a royal province 
with a governor appointed by the king. Gallant little Plym- 
outh fared still worse. That ea.rliest democracy of the Eng- 
lish world was wiped off the map and its territory was annexed 
to Massachusetts. So was all of Maine, both east and west 
of the Kennebec. New Hampshire became again a royal 
province under an appointed governor as it was when Andros 
came. Connecticut and Rhode Island, however, were per- 
mitted to resume the election of governors. From that 
time till the revolution of 1776 they were the only American 
states that elected their governors. 

William and his advisers desired as many royal provinces as 
possible, and therefore took advantage of the anti-Cathohc 
fury to deprive the Calverts of Maryland.^ Penn, because of 

1 Professor Charming aptly says of the Bill of Rights : "Its genesis shows a 
persistent disregard of the rights of the colonists" (" History," II, 192). In 
the whole matter of determining the succession of the Crown, the colonies 
were ignored. It was assumed that they had no voice whatever. This feeling 
went so far that, subsequently, a Maryland law recognizing Queen Anne was 
frowned upon in England as impertinent. See Chalmers, "Opinions," I, 343 
(quoted in Channing). 

^ The proprietaryship was restored to the Calvert family in the person of 
the fourth Lord Baltimore, following his conversion to the Anglican church 
early in the eighteenth century. In their later period of control, however, the 
proprietaries were deprived of some of their former power. For example, their 
appointments of governors had to receive the sanction of the Crown. 



112 AMERICAN HISTORY 

his friendship with the Stuart kings, was under suspicion and 
narrowly escaped the same treatment. The Carolina pro- 
prietaries saved themselves from a like fate by promptly 
acknowledging the new sovereigns. The Virginians trans- 
ferred their loyalty from the old king to the new with a sense 
of relief. Being both monarchial and Protestant, Virginians 
had every reason to expect well of the change. We shall see 
what came of their expec^tations. 

159. Execution of Leisler. The new order of things was 
stained at the outset by a judicial murder. In New York, 
there had always been a party opposed to Leisler (section 152) 
and now the leaders of this opposition, having won the con- 
fidence of the new royal governor, Henry Sloughtcr, trumped 
up a charge of treason against the popular leader. He was 
tried before a court of his enemies and hastily put to death. 

160. A New Phase of Despotism. All these changes were 
authorized by William not as king of the various American 
states, but altogether as king of the one premier state of the 
empire, England. His treatment of the colonies was based 
on the assumption that England was entitled to do with them 
what she pleased. They were her property. Therefore he 
set about overhauling the whole matter of the relations 
between East and West in the empire. 

161. The Navigation Laws. When William look the 
matter in hand, he found on the English statute book certain 
acts^ of Parliament for the regulation of trade with the colonies. 
These acts were designed to advance the interests of English 
merchants trading with America. They enumerated such 
American products as could be handled profitably in England 
and these " enumerated goods " Americans were forbidden to 
ship to any other country. The Americans were also forbidden 
to buy from any foreign country direct. All importations had 
to pass through the hands of British merchants whose profits 

' These were the Navigation Acts. The act passed by the Long Parliament 
(section 113) was expanded by later ones. The important Navigation Acts 
previous to the reign of William were enacted in 1660, 1663, and 1672. 



OUR FIRST GREAT TURNING POINT 113 

were, of course, paid by the colonists. Trade at sea had to be 
in ships built and owned in England or in the colonies.^ 
Finally goods sent from one colony to another were subjected 
to a customs duty. This was the first tax laid by England on 
the Americans.^ Its purpose was to force them to trade direct 
with England and to break up their trade with each other. 

162. Lax Enforcement of the Laws. Such were the laws 
found by William III on the statute book of England. He 
also found that these laws had never been really enforced. 
Edward Randolph, whom he appointed " surveyor general '' 
to oversee the entire business of colonial trade, made reports 
which left no doubt as to the general disregard of the Naviga- 
tion Acts in America. All along the coast, Randolph arrested 
men for violating the acts. But when they were brought into 
the colonial courts, the local juries would not find them guilty. 

163. Colonial Measures of William III. William was not 
the man to put up with lax enforcement of law. In 1696 
another Navigation Act was passed. To the provisions of the 
earher acts it added some startling new ones. Notably, it 
provided that hereafter offenders against the trade restrictions 
might be tried either in local courts, or in special " admiralty " 
courts,^ as the king's officials should see fit. It further de- 
clared that all colonial laws repugnant to the act were im- 
mediately null and void. 

William also created a new colonial council. This was the 
Board of Trade and Plantations often spoken of as the " Lords 
of Trade." It was to have constant and general supervision 
of all colonial affairs. Its aim was in part to make the colonies 
subservient to the crown. ^ 

^ This provision benefited America. It led to the building of ships which, in 
time, became a great colonial industry. For the general aim of the Navigation 
Acts, see text of act of 1663, Macdonald, " Source Book," 73. 

2 It was levied under the act of 1672. 

? Offenses committed on the open sea do not properly come under the juris- 
diction of the courts on land. To deal with them we have "admiralty courts " 
and a system of "admiralty law." 

* Advanced students will find in the activities of the Board of Trade, the chief 
unifying factor of all subsequent history of the English colonies. Only recently 



114 AMERICAN HISTORY 

164. Why the Americans Submitted. For the time being 
there was an end of the idea that the colonies were free states 
of the empire.^ The question inevitably arises, Why did the 
Americans submit ? Forty years before they had made a stand 
against the Long Parliament, and even Cromwell had thought 
it best not to push them to the wall. Why were they easily 
browbeaten by William III ? 

There are various explanations. For one thing, England 
in 1696 was a very different foe from the England of forty 
years earlier. The earlier England was divided against 
itself. The England of 1696 was very nearly a unit, — King, 
Parliament, People, pretty much of one mind. To have defied 
that later England would have been to court destruction. 

Furthermore, at the end of the century Americans were 
almost all in a spasm of anti-Catholic dread. It is probable 
that most of the colonists outside Maryland believed that 
James II, Louis XIV, and the Pope were in league to destroy 
their Hberties. However lightly we may dismiss that notion 
to-day, we cannot doubt that the colonists accepted it. The 
Americans dreamed of conquering armies pouring southward 
from Canada, burning and slaying. If they broke with the 
power of England, what was to keep them out of the hands of 
the French? 

165. England's Great Mistake. However, England had 
made a great mistake — the greatest colonial mistake she ever 

has this fact been appreciated. One of the ablest reformers of our conception 
of our own past, Professor C. M. Andrews, says, "As lon-^ as the career and in- 
fluence of the one directing agency in England (the Board of Trade) ... re- 
mained little more than a name, American history in its earlier phases " possessed 
" no proper point of view . . . whence colonial events could be seen as identical 
phenomena grouped by their connection with a common governing author- 
ity." . . . Recent writers on the Board of Trade are — Dickcrson, "American 
Colonial Government"; Root, "Relations of Pennsylvania with the British 
Government"; Kellogg, "The American Colonial Charter." 

'To quote Miss Kellogg ("The American Colonial Charter"), the policy of 
the Board, "stated in brief . . . was . . . that the colonies 'must hereafter 
be brought to understand that they are to be looked upon as united and em- 
bodied and that their head and center is heere !'" 



OUR FIRST GREAT TURNING POINT 115 

made. The years between 1689 and 1696 form a turning 
point not only in the history of the Americans, but in that 
of the empire. Had WilHam and his advisers recognized 
the Americans as on the same footing in the empire with his 
European subjects, it is quite likely there never would have 
been an American revolution. The empire had reached a 
crisis. To keep her empire during many generations England 
had but to acknowledge the Western states as co-partners with 
the Eastern states in imperial concerns.^ She chose to treat 
them as her servants. Circumstances had given her an 
imperial opportunity in America. She threw it away. It 
never came again. 



II. LIFE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 

166. A Point of Pause. With the opening of the eighteenth 
century, the Americans entered upon a new chapter in their 
development. The close of the century we have been studying 
forms a natural point of pause. We should have a general 
impression of American life at the close of the seventeenth 
century. 

167. Inhabitants. The extent of the country occupied by 
the Enghsh we know." The inhabitants numbered about a 
quarter of a million. The manners and customs of these 
people differed greatly in different regions. In the southern 
colonies most of the people lived outside of towns. The 
" planter " living on his estate was already the typical figure of 
those parts. In the middle colonies — Pennsylvania, New 
Jersey, and New York — town Hfe was found in combination 
with country life. Along the Hudson River, the descendants 

1 Two hundred years later, after having lost one colonial empire and valiantly 
built up another, England confronted a situation strikingly similar to that of 
1696. That nations sometimes learn by experience is proved by England's 
present attitude toward "imperial federation." 

' Roughly speaking, the settlements were all on the shores of tidewater or 
extended inland along the banks of streams. See sections 57, 77, note, 92-94, 
104, 105, iiS, 123, 131, 132, 138, 178. 



ii6 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



of the patroons still held their feudal estates, while the little 
city at the mouth of the river was already becoming a center 
of influence. To the eastward there were scarcely any large 
landed estates. The severe climate and the poor soil united 
to make the open country of comparatively little value. 
People gathered in towns to be together during the long 
winters and to find profitable employment. 







THE BATTERY, NEW YORK, IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 

168. City Population of the Colonies. It is a question 
which was the largest American " city." In 1700 Penn 
estimated the population of Philadelphia at twelve thousand, 
but this was probably an exaggeration. Boston in 1700 had 
some seven thousand people ; New York about five thousand. 
Charleston was somewhat smaller than New York. In Mary- 
land and Virginia the capitals were meeting places rather than 
cities. At certain times they were filled with the great folk of 
the colony. At other times they came near to being deserted. 
Thus their permanent population was small. In both cases, 
toward the end of the century the capital was changed. In 



OUR FIRST GREAT TURNING POINT 



117 



Virginia it was removed from Jamestown to Williamsburg; 
in Maryland, from St. Mary's to AnnapoUs. 

169. The Descent of the Americans. The vast majority 
of these people scattered over America were of Enghsh descent, 
but other races were represented. In New York, of course, 
many people had Dutch ancestors. However, intermarriage 
was rapidly making these people partly English in blood, and 
they soon became wholly Enghsh in feeling. French Huguenots 
had also come into the colonies in considerable numbers 




HOUSE IN PHILADELPHIA BUILT BY PENN 



(section 131). Carohna had received most of them. We have 
seen that there were Germans in Pennsylvania (section 133). 
There were also in America, previous to 1700, people from the 
north of Ireland, the so-called Scotch-Irish, but as yet they 
were few. 

170. Domestic Life. The Hfe led by the Americans 
when William III was king was seldom luxurious. As yet 
there were no great houses in America, no stately churches, 
no imposing public buildings, but there was a great deal of 
comfort. The owners of large plantations in the South, 
the New York patroons, prosperous merchants of Boston, 
all had houses, furniture, servants, sufficient for their wants. 



ii8 AMERICAN HISTORY 

The new houses built about that time were generally plain and 
without artistic charm, but often large and commodious. 
Within those houses was an abundance of European articles. 
There were such imported luxuries as spice, teas, wines, and 
liquors ; the finer clothing of the family — lace, silks, and 
everything of the sort — was European. The everyday 
clothing was generally made of homespun, woven on this side 
the water. Sometimes such cloth was made inside the house 
itself by the servants of the owner under the supervision of 
their mistress. On the great plantations in the South this 
work was done by slaves. In the homes of the poorer people 
the whole family spent the winter evenings spinning, sewing, 
or making candles and other articles of household use. 

171. Slavery. Among the servants in the houses of the 
rich might generally be found negro slaves.^ The Southern 
colonies with their mild climate and country life were well 
suited to negro labor, and in the South, already, black slaves 
were numerous. Farther north cHmatic conditions and town 
life made slavery less profitable. In the main, the number of 
slaves decreased as one traveled northward, but there was an 
exception to the rule. In 1700 Virginia and New York each 
had about six thousand slaves. The proportion, however, 
of slaves to the whole population was greater in New York than 
in Virginia. They were used in large numbers on the estates 
of the patroons. In New England slaves were, as a rule, 
merely an affectation of the well-to-do, much as liveried 
servants are to-day. Slavery always needed agriculture to 
be profitable and in no New England colony unless, possibly, 
Rhode Island, was life predominantly agricultural. On the 
large farms of Rhode Island many slaves were employed.^ 

^ The first slaves in English America are said to have been brought to Vir- 
ginia by the Dutch in 1619. 

^ Some faint opposition to slavery can be observed even in the seventeenth 
century. An argument against it was published by German Quakers in 1688. 
In the last decade of the century oflicial action was taken by the Quaker Church, 
in meetings held at Philadelphia, adverse to slavery. A famous anti-slavery 
tract, "The Selling of Joseph," was printed in Boston in 1701. 



OUR FIRST GREAT TURNING POINT 119 

172. Books and Printing. As late as 1700 there was not a 
newspaper in English America.^ But there were printing 
presses, both at Boston and Philadelphia, and a few books 
were pubhshed. Nevertheless the Americans did not lack 
books brought over from England. Every planter of Virginia 
had his " library," and though the collections were small, they 
were generally well chosen. In 1693 the Hbrary of a clergyman 
was catalogued and offered for sale in Boston. It contained 

The Bofton News-Letter. 

From i^onDap April 17. to SJ^OIlDap April 24. 1704. 

londat flpng-PoJl from Ditemb. iJ. to 4/b. 170;. 1 From all this he infers, That they have hopes of 

Affilttncc from Fr/imc, otherwife ihey would rever 

LEners from Scotlmd bring us the Copy of I be fo impudent , nnd he gives Reafons for his Ap- 
aSheet lately Primed there, Intituled, A 1 prehcnfions that the Fnnch King may fend Troops 
finfonMt Alarm for SzotlinA. In n Letter- thither this Winter, I. Bccaufe the Cn^/jy'j 6C/Dwcft 
, fnm dCmtlcman in the Cit;i,to hit Fritnd in- will not then be ;it Sea to oppofe thci'n. z. He Can 
the Cemtry, concerning the prefent Dangtr then bcft fpare them, the Seafon of Adlion beyond 
ta il:c Kjngdem and'cf ilx Proiejlmt Helig^ion. Sea being over. ;. The Expctlation given him of a 

This Letter tales Notice, ThatPapifts fvrarm in conliderable number to joyn.them, may inrourage 
thht i^ation, that they traffick more avowedly than him to the undertaking with fewer Men,if he cart 
formerly, and tiiai oflate many Scores of Pncfts & but (end over a fufficicnt number of Ofticers with 
Jefuites arc come thither from France, and gone to Arms and Ammunition. 

the North, to the Highlands & other places of the He endeavours in the reft of his Letters to an» 
Country. That the Minifters of the Highlands and fwcr the foolidi Pretences of the Pretender's being 
Morth gave in large Lifts of them to the Commit- a Prottlbnt and that he \vill govern Us according 
tee of the General Aflembly, to be laid before the to Law. He fays, that being bred up in the Rtli- 
PrivyCouncil. gion and Politicks o( France _ he is by Education a 

FACSIMILE OF THE EARLIEST SUCCESSFUL NEWSPAPER IN AMERICA 

about a thousand works, of which only eight had been printed 
in America. A public library was founded at Charleston, 
South Carolina, in 1698. 

173. Education. The American in Wilham's day could not 
get much of what we now call " higher education " in his own 
country. For that he had to cross the Atlantic. How- 
ever, two small colleges were in existence at the end of 
the century. Harvard College had been founded in 1636 
by the General Court of Massachusetts, and William and 

1 There was an attempt to set up a newspaper at Boston in 1690, but the first 
regular newspaper in America was the Bosion News-Letter, which began in 1 704. 



I20 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



Mary College at Williamsburg in 1693, partly by royal grant, 
partly through colonial aid. On the other hand, the colonies 
were well provided with schools. In Massachusetts every 
town of fifty famihes was required to maintain a school. 
The Collegiate School of the Dutch Reformed Church in New 

York was founded as 



THE 8 



NEfF^Etf GLAND 






IPRIMERI 

^ O , an esfy and pteifant ^ 

^ GuicietotheArtofKeadlng:. f* 
^ Adorn'd with Cuts, A% 

Nor' To Ti'V/Vfi art addtdt q 



far back as 1633. 
The Penn Charter 
School was founded 
at Philadelphia to- 
ward the end of the 
century. 

174. Religion. As 
we have seen, a vari- 
ety of circumstances 
had conspired to 
make the colonies 



^ The Afl^mblv of Divln-S f Pretty solidly Protes 
" T\T X , ' ^ tant. If the grea 






great 
liberal movement of 
the early part of the 
century had suc- 
ceeded (section 64), 
there might have 
been universal toler- 
ation in America in 
1690. But it had 
partially failed, and 
the tyranny of James 
II had united all the Protestants in a cruel opposition to all 
Catholics (section 164). However, there were still a few mem- 
bers of the Roman Church in Enghsh America. Most of them 
were in Maryland, though New York contained a small num- 
ber. Jews were also to be found here and there. Once in a 
while an avowed freethinker might be discovered. But the 
greater part of the population was distributed among the vari- 



and Mr. Cotton's 

I CATECHISM, 8<u 

^ — 

J BOSTON: 

« Pflifed bv E Draffr. for B* 
^ La R K I N y in Cornhill. 

Title-page of the chief reading and spelling book in 
the colonies from about 1690 to 1800. Facsimile 
but slightly reduced from original size. 



OUR FIRST GREAT TURNING POINT 121 

ous bodies of Trinitarian Protestants. In Virginia almost 
every one belonged to the Church of England. The New 
Englanders, outside Rhode Island, were almost as invariably 
orthodox Congregationalists. In Rhode Island, however, the 
Baptists were the leading denomination. The Dutch Re- 
formed Church flourished in New York. There were also a 
few Lutherans. The Quakers were, of course, the most 
numerous sect in Pennsylvania. In the Carolinas, Anglicans, 
Huguenots, and Presbyterians were all influential. 

175. A Tolerant World for Protestants. The result of 
all this was general toleration for all Protestants. The party 
in England which had carried through the revolution of 
1688 was friendly to the Protestant dissenters,^ all of whom 
had supported the movement (section 151), and most Ameri- 
cans were also ready for as much intellectual freedom as 
would enable Anglicans and dissenters to dwell together in 
peace. For example, Carolina, though largely Anglican, 
accepted a Quaker governor without objection. This was 
John Archdale, who became governor in 1695. He said of his 
administration, " My power was very large, yet did I not 
wholly exclude the High Church party at that time out of 
the essential part of the government, but mixed two Moderate 
Churchmen to one High Churchman in the council whereby 
the balance of government was preserved peaceable and quiet 
in my Time." 

176. Superstition. The New World had inherited the 
superstitions of the Old. There was a general belief in witch- 
craft. A chief justice of Carohna declared in court : " That 
there are such creatures as witches I make no doubt ; neither 
do I think they can be denied without denying the truth of 



1 That is, professing Christians who belonged neither to the Church of Rome 
nor to the Church of England. Unitarians, however, were held to form a class 
by themselves. The moment the revolution was accomplished, the supporters 
of it fell into opposite parties. One wished to make Anglicanism the only- 
tolerated religion ; the other wished to tolerate all forms of Protestantism. The 
latter party prevailed (see sections 192-195). 



122 AMERICAN HISTORY 

the Holy Scriptures." In Virginia women accused of being 
witches were pubHcly ducked in a horsepond. 

177. The Salem Witches. This ancient superstition was 
terribly displayed at Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. The 
event may be partly explained by the excited condition of the 
time. Says a recent critic, " there was general despondency 
in Massachusetts in 1692, the result of four smallpox epidemics 
which had quickly followed each other; the loss of the old 
charter ; a temporary increase in crime ; financial depression ; 
and general dread of another Indian outbreak." ^ Other 
students attribute it in part to the gloomy nature of seventeenth 
century Congregationalism, which dwelt largely on the terrors 
of hell and kept always before the mind's eye an awful picture 
of the sufferings of lost souls. Allowing for all possible ex- 
planations, it still remains one of the mysteries of our history. 
A whole community was suddenly possessed by a terror of 
witches. It began with accusations made by children against 
an Indian slave. Immediately the people of Salem were 
thrown into a nervous panic and numbers of them discovered 
that they also were " afiflicted " by the power of absent 
witches. They declared in court that they had suffered 
various tortures, such as scalding, and even had been 
"dragged out of their houses and hurried over the tops of 
trees for many miles together." The governor set up a 
special court to try witches. Before the panic was over, 
nineteen persons had been hanged as witches and one had 
been pressed to death with leaden weights. 

178. The Near Wilderness. Nowhere had the settled 
country been fully separated from the wilderness. Patches 
of dark woodland lay between the villages. Long arms of 
forest stretched eastward, making peninsulas of unoccupied 
land, — tentacles, as it were, extended from the vast, unex- 
plored region of the western boundary. All such stretches of 
land were associated with the grim figures of stalking Indians. 
In the imagination of the settlers each bit of dark wood was 

' Thvvaites, "Colonies," 191. 



OUR FIRST GREAT TURNING POINT 123 

still a possible shelter for their dreadful enemies. This 
menace of the near wilderness was fulfilled, again and again, 
when the redness of the sunset mixed with the redness of a 
burning village, or the darkness of the nighttime was thickened 
with its smoke. A noted instance was the burning of Andover, 
only twenty-one miles from Boston, by a party of French and 
Indians in 1697. 

179. Colonial Self-reliance. Thus colonial life was always 
under the shadow of death. With hostile Indians everywhere 
along the west, with hostile French upon the north, hostile 
Spaniards upon the south, with the sea for an open door which 
cither France or Spain might enter without a warning, the 
Americans learned early to rely upon themselves. England 
was far away and busy with her European affairs. Inevitably 
America began to be a world to itself almost as soon as it came 
to be at all. The parts of it naturally sought relations one 
with another. In New England regular communication by 
post began early. Virginia set up a post office in 1692 ; 
Maryland, in 1695. Before the end of the century there was 
a postal system between Williamsburg and Boston. American 
manufactures also began early. The first woolen mill in 
Massachusetts was established in 1662. The splendid forests 
of the North were utilized in shipbuilding, and at least one 
man-of-war was built in New England for the royal navy 
previous to 1700. 

180. Money. The seventeenth century Americans had no 
satisfactory money. The silver shillings of Massachusetts 
(section 99) had long since been discontinued. English 
money was scarce. Spanish coins chiefly served the needs of 
the colonists. But all sorts of coin were in circulation, and 
there was much confusion. In 1690 Massachusetts set a bad 
example, followed quickly and recklessly by other colonies. 
Paper money was issued. This was done because of financial 
trouble following the unsuccessful expedition against Quebec 
(section 156), which Sir William Phips had bungled, and which 
entailed extraordinary expense upon the colony. 



124 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



181. Smuggling. At first the Americans did not take the 
Navigation Acts very seriously and for a long time the crown 
was too busy in Europe to provide an efficient system for 
enforcing them. In defiance of the law, smuggling was 
carried on upon an immense scale. 

182. Piracy. A strange detail of the time was the prev- 
alence of piracy. In 1697 it was charged that pirates walked 
the streets of Philadelphia as safe as if at sea. Penn's 
representative was accused of making trouble for honest magis- 
trates who tried to bring pirates to justice. In New York the 




FIRST WAREHOUSE IN NEW YORK 



state of things was still worse. Benjamin Fletcher, who be- 
came governor of New York in 1692, issued commissions to 
pirates on the pretense of employing them to wage war against 
the enemies of England, and levied blackmail on them in 
return. The waters of Narragansett Bay were a resort for 
pirates, and Newport was one of their favorite haunts. 

Many respectable merchants did not hesitate to do business 
with the pirates. Sometimes they sent out ships that met 
and traded with the pirate ships in distant seas. A noted 
piratical station was Madagascar. Sometimes the returning 
ships brought to America rich villains who had decided to 
retire from piracy. The merchants who traded with them 
made great fortunes out of the abominable business. 

183. The War upon Pirates. At length things came to such 
a pass that Fletcher was recalled and Lord Bellomont was 



OUR FIRST GREAT TURNING POINT 125 

commissioned to suppress piracy. He began a vigorous 
campaign, which was carried on even after his death. There 
was a wholesale hanging of pirates at Boston in 1704; but 
many more years had to pass before American waters were 
finally cleared of pirates. One of the greatest ruffians that 
ever lived was Edward Teach, called " Blackbeard," who 
used to stain his face black and had thirteen wives, three 
of whom he throttled with his own hands. Virginia put an 
end to Blackbeard. The ship sent out to apprehend him 
brought home his head stuck on a pike staff. The rival of 
Blackbeard was Stede Bonnet. The credit for abolishing him 
belongs to the people of Charleston, who commissioned Colonel 
William Rhett to capture the ruffian, dead or alive. Rhett 
found him on Cape Fear River, fought a fierce battle, and 
brought him back to Charleston. He and twenty-three 
others were tried, convicted, and hanged (see section 198). 

Selections from the Sources. Hart, Contemporaries, 1, Nos. 85-89, 
104, 115-116, 142-149, II, Nos. 16-19, 23-27, 33, 34, 45, 46, 71, 85, 
102, 103; Macdonald, Source Book, Nos. 15, 19, 22, 25, Charters, 22, 
23, 25, 28, 39, 43, 50; Samuel Sewall, Diary; Cotton Mather, 
Wonders of the Invisible World (reprinted in Library of American Litera- 
ture, II, 114). 

Secondary Accounts. Osgood, III, 193-239, 424-440, 470-476, 501- 
506; Semple, Geographic Conditions, 1 14-13 2; Thwaites, Colonies, 
23, 40-45, 75-80, 91-96; Fisher, Colonial Era, 56-61, 74, 164-176, 
207-211, 313-320; FiSKE, Old Virginia, II, 1-30, 116-130, 174-269, 
308-400; Dutch and Quaker Colonics, II, 62-98, 222-235, 258-293, 317- 
356; Doyle, English in America, I, 381-395, II, i-io, III, 1-8, 14-97, 
323-337, 377-395; WiNSOR, Narrative and Critical History, III, 385- 
411, V, 99-144, 170, 208-217, 263-334; Andrews, Colonial Self-Govern- 
ment, chaps, v, vi, ix, x; Channing, History, II, 13-25, 31-44, 50-60, 
1 1 7-1 2 2, 313-340, 496-507 ; Douglas, Currencies of the Colonies (Ameri- 
can Econ. Asso. Studies, II, 294-375). 

Topics for Special Reports, i. The Nagivation Laws. 2. The Board 
of Trade. 3. The Map of America in 1700. 4. Early Colonial Life. 
5. Colonial Institutions. 6. What the Colonists brought from Europe. 
7. New Conditions encountered by Europeans in America. 8. Colonial 
Money. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE SPANISH DANGER 

I. CAROLINA, THE SOUTHERN BULWARK 

184. Spain and England part Company. The Peace of 

Ryswick (1697) was of great significance to the Americans. 
It ended the short-Hved friendship of England and Spain. 
During the next four years the main object of France was to 
detach Spain from the league against her. She succeeded. 
When war broke out again in 1701, France and Spain were 
in close alliance. The Americans were menaced from both 
sides, north and south. 

185. The French on the Gulf of Mexico. Meanwhile Louis 
XIV had strengthened his position in America by planting a 
colony on the Gulf of Mexico. There are few men in the 
history of French America more justly famous than the 
Sieur dTberville. In 1699 DTberville took possession of the 
lower Mississippi. The English, who were also aiming to get a 
foothold on the great river, were met by the French, that same 
year, at a bend of the stream which is still called " English 
Turn " and were compelled to retreat. This was the real 
beginning of the French colony of Louisiana (section 137). 
A French post which grew into Mobile was established by 
DTberville soon after (1702): thus Alabama began. 

186. Louis provokes War. With the opening of 1701 the 
alliance of France and Spain had been completed. The child- 
less king of Spain had died and bequeathed his crown to a 
grandson of Louis XIV. To prevent a virtual union of the 
two countries, England, Holland, and Austria now formed a 
second alliance against France. All the nations prepared for 
war. In America the men of Charleston and Albemarle 
thought of the destruction of Stuart Town and began to put 

126 



THE SPANISH DANGER 



127 



their defenses in order. New York and Boston recalled 
angrily the burning of Schenectady and the looting of Andover, 
Before the year closed, Louis roused them to fury by a bold in- 
sult to English pride. On the death of the exiled James II, 
September 6, 1701, Louis recognized as the rightful king of 
England, his young son, whom the English Parliament had 
disinherited.^ Both in 
Europe and America 
broke out at once the 
War of the Spanish 
Succession (i 701-17 13). 
187. Queen Anne's 
War. Before hostili- 
ties actually began Wil- 
liam III died. He was 
succeeded by his sister- 
in-law, Queen Anne, 
younger daughter of 
James 11. The Ameri- 
cans have generally 
called the great conflict 
Queen Anne's War. In 
Europe it developed the 
general who is perhaps 
the greatest England 
has produced, Marlborough ; whose famous victories of Blen- 
heim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet, astonished the 
world, shattered the power of France, and forced Louis to 
beg for peace. Peace was made by the Treaty of Utrecht 
in 1 7 13. By this treaty France gave up Nova Scotia, which 
has been an English possession ever since. Newfoundland and 
the Hudson Bay Country were also surrendered by the French.- 




D'IBERVn.LE 



1 As he continued until his death to claim the crown of England, he is known 
as the "Pretender." His son, who made the same claim, is called the "Young 
Pretender." 

2 For the provisions of the treaty with regard to the slave trade, see section 214. 



128 AMERICAN HISTORY 

188. The Capture of Port Royal. The most obvious con- 
tribution of the Americans to the final success of the English 
in Queen Anne's war was the conquest of Acadia, or Nova 
Scotia. In 1 7 ID a British fleet and an American army united 
at Boston and sailed for Port Royal. After a brief siege 
the place surrendered and was renamed Annapolis. 

189. The Sack of Deerfield. In the North this was the 
only large event of the war. But there was much savage 
raiding by the French and Indians all along the Canadian 
border. Perhaps the best known of these attacks is the one 
which ended in the destruction of Deerfield, Massachusetts. 
Though the numbers involved were not great, there was an 
especial ferocity in the way the business was done which 
has given it a mournful celebrity. The little village was 
surprised in the dead of the night. A furious battle raged 
from house to house. Just one house was successfully de- 
fended. All the rest were destroyed and most of their de- 
fenders killed. 

190. The Expedition against St. Augustine. While the 
French invaded Engfish America from the north, the 
Spaniards invaded it from the south. A Spanish force which 
had marched northward at the opening of the war was met by 
a body of Carolinians, with some friendly Indians of the 
Creek Nation, at Flint River, in our present Georgia, and 
driven back to Florida. The South Carolina Assembly then 
resolved upon a great stroke. They would attempt the 
destruction of the Spanish outpost, St. Augustine, and in 1702 
their expedition set sail. But it was not destined to succeed. 
Though the town was taken by Colonel Daniel, the castle 
of St. Augustine proved too strong to be reduced, except by 
siege, and the arrival of Spanish ships of war turned the 
tables. The Americans retreated, but they were not discour- 
aged, and at its next session the Carolina Assembly, having 
appealed to the proprietaries for assistance, added bravely, 
" We hope not only to defend ourselves but even to take 
St. Augustine." 



THE SPANISH DANGER 129 

191. The Constant Enemy of the Americans. However, 
the Spaniards were not their only, perhaps not their worst, 
enemy. There were men in England who had no sympathy 
with the war, who wished to end it as quickly as possible, 
who were also the sworn foes of all the freedom and toleration 
which, as we have seen, were characteristic of Carolina. These 
had drawn together in the powerful political party known as 
the Tories. The Tories were friendly to absolutism and in 
religious matters utterly intolerant. A resolute Tory was 
John, Lord Granville, who in 1702 was Palatine ^ of Carolina. 
Another was Sir Nathaniel Johnson, whom Granville and 
his associates commissioned governor of Carolina that same 
year. The Tories of England had long aimed at excluding 
all but Anglicans from Parliament, but were meeting 
with poor success. Lord Granville now resolved to attempt 
in Carolina what as yet his party could not accomplish in 
England. 

192. The Tory Attack on American Toleration. There 
were American Tories as well as English Tories, and Sir 
Nathaniel set to work to organize the party in Carolina. 
Apparently the liberal men of the colony were caught napping, 
and in 1703 was elected an assembly with a Tory majority. 
The next spring by a majority of one, the Assembly of South 
Carolina passed an act excluding all but communicants of 
the Church of England from membership in the legislature of 
the colony. 

193. The Appeal to the English Whigs. Great excitement 
followed. Many churchmen, not Tories, united with Quakers, 
and other dissenters, in denouncing the new law. The 
Reverend Edward Marston, rector of St. Philips, Charleston, 
was one of the leaders of the opposition. Agents were sent 
to England to protest to the proprietaries. But all this might 
have come to nothing, had not the Whig party, the rivals of 
the Tories, steadily opposed the tyrannical legislation favored 

* The head of the board of proprietaries of Carolina was known as the "Pala- 
tine." 



I30 AMERICAN HISTORY 

by Granville. When the CaroHna Palatine approved of the 
Carolina law, the American agents boldly appealed to the 
House of Lords. They asked for protection against the 
proprietaries. 

194. The Last Crisis in the History of American Toleration. 
A crisis in English politics occurred late in 1 704. The Tories 
had a majority in the House of Commons, the Whigs in the 
House of Lords. The Tories were against the war ; the 
Whigs were for it. The Tories, in the Commons, refused to 
vote suppHes unless dissenters were excluded from Parlia- 
ment ; the Whigs, in the House of Lords, stood firm and re- 
fused to exclude dissenters. The queen dissolved Parliament. 

But the Tories had not allowed for the effect on the EngHsh 
people of the events of the year 1704. In August a great 
EngHsh army had met a great French army near the village 
of Blenheim in Bavaria. The victory won that day gave 
Marlborough the first place among the generals of his time. 
It made all England passionately proud of her general and 
his army. When the opponents of the war appealed to the 
voters they spoke to deaf ears. The House of Commons 
elected in 1 705 was overwhelmingly Whig. 

Thereupon the Lords boldly urged the Queen to overrule 
the Tory proprietors. The Board of Trade gave the same 
advice. At length Queen Anne asserted her sovereign author- 
ity and declared the Carolina law null and void.^ 

195. Renewed War Spirit. The war was carried on with 
great spirit in 1 706. In that summer occurred the first arrhcd 
invasion of English America on a considerable scale. A mixed 
French and Spanish expedition was organized at Havana. 
It proceeded to St. Augustine, took on board the forces 
stationed there, and sailed for Charleston. The city was sum- 
moned to surrender, and Governor Johnson was given one hour 

1 This attempt to destroy religious freedom was not confined to South Caro- 
lina. Though the Tory influence was still weaker in North Carolina, an attempt 
was made to carry out the same plan there. It was the cause of the minor in- 
surrection known as "Gary's Rebellion." 



THE SPANISH DANGER 13 1 

in which to consider. He replied " that it needed not a quarter 
of an hour or a minute's time to give the answer to that demand 
for he (the enemy) might see he (the governor) was not in 
such condition as to be obhged to surrender the town ; but that 
he kept the same and would defend it in the name and by the 
authority of the great Queen of England, and that he valued 
not any force he had ; and bade him go about his business." 
By this time all the militia of the colony had been collected. 
Colonel Rhett, who acted as admiral, had gotten together 
seven ships of various sorts, one of which had been converted 
into a fire ship. A council of war decided to attack the in- 
vaders. There followed three days of vigorous action both 
on land and sea ; after which the invaders, having had 
all the fight they wanted, thought better of it and sailed 
away. 

196. The Tuscarora War. Several years passed before 
Carolina was again troubled by the Spaniards. In this 
interval broke out, in North Carolina, the war with the 
Tuscarora Indians, who appear to have thought that a party of 
innocent Swiss emigrants intended to deprive them of their 
lands. Their attack was one of the most unexpected and 
most deadly in all the terrible story of Indian warfare, but it 
was met with great courage and promptness. The North 
Carolina authorities appealed to Virginia and South Carolina. 
Both gave aid. The South Carolinians, commanded by John 
Barnwell, fought the chief action of the war in January, 171 2. 
The Indians were routed (see section 211). 

197. The Yamassee War. The European peace, con- 
cluded the next year at Utrecht (section 187), did not bring 
peace to Carolina. Only two years later (17 15) the Yamassee 
Indians in South Carolina followed the example of the Tus- 
caroras. Again there was all the sickening horror that 
people had come to expect in Indian war. After severe 
fighting, the Yamassees were expelled from the colony. They 
retreated southward and marched into St. Augustine in a 
body. The garrison received them with the ringing of bells 



132 AMERICAN HISTORY 

and firing of guns. It is generally believed, though never 
proved, that the Yamassee War had been instigated by Spain. 

198. Further Danger from Spain. The troubles of the 
South were far from an end. In 1718 the British government 
made a vigorous campaign against the pirates of the West 
Indies, and one result of it was the increase of the retreating 
freebooters along the American coast. There was a time 
when the Carolinas were almost in a state of blockade. The 
proprietaries, however, did nothing to relieve this intolerable 
condition. Rhett's capture of Stede Bonnet (section 183) 
and a naval battle fought by Governor Robert Johnson^ were 
the only encouragement the colonists had. No wonder they 
made an appeal direct to the crown, early in 17 19, begging 
for the protection of the royal navy.^ At this desperate 
moment a new quarrel arose between England and Spain, and 
war was threatened. The Spaniards determined again to 
attempt taking Carolina unawares. But the news of their 
designs ^ came to the ears of Governor Johnson. He summoned 
the militia of the colony, and the whole force met in review at 
Charleston. 

199. The Revolution of 1719. We have seen how little 
cause the Carolinians had to love their proprietaries. Further- 
more, their recent appeal to the crown had not been in vain, 
and two ships of war had been sent to protect them. As a 
consequence there was a widespread inclination to rebel 
against the government of the proprietaries and bring the 
colony under the direct rule of the crown. The revolutionary 
movement needed only an organization to become formidable, 
and an opportunity to organize was given by the review of the 
miUtia. It was at once seized. Articles of association were 

' Son of Sir Nathaniel Johnson. 

^ The Board of Trade, ever watchful to advance the interests of the crown, 
seconded the appeal of the colonists and advised the abolition of the proprietary 
government. 

' Thouph a Spanish expedition put to sea, it never reached the American 
coast. An attempt to capture the island of New Providence was a failure. A 
severe storm also did great damage to the fleet. The remainder retreated. 



THE SPANISH DANGER 



133 



distributed among the soldiers and were signed by almost the 
entire force. Thus the fighting strength of the colony was or- 
ganized against the proprietary government. 

200. The Crown Colonies of the Carolinas. Governor 
Johnson, faithful to his employers, did his best to withstand 
the revolution. But he stood almost alone. He was peace- 
ably deposed, and James Moore was chosen to take his place 
until the arrival of a royal governor. The crown sustained 
the revolutionists ; subsequently, the interests of the pro- 
prietaries were purchased by the English government; and 
the colony was divided into the separate royal provinces of 
North and South Carolina (1729). 

II. GEORGIA, THE SENTINEL STATE 

201. A Great Philanthropic Movement. The Spanish 
danger was not yet past. But a new defense against Spain 
was now formed in a re- 
markable way. It grew 
out of the death in a 
debtors' prison of a poor 
gentleman of England 
named Castel, a friend of 
the great philanthropist 
and dashing soldier, James 
Edward Oglethorpe. Ogle- 
thorpe investigated the 
debtors' prisons and found 
their condition horrible 
beyond words. Meditat- 
ing on his discoveries, he 
formed a plan for drawing 
together in the New World 
those members of the Old 
who had fallen into mis- 
fortune without having fallen into crime. Others became 
interested in his generous scheme. In 1732 a charter was 




COLONIAL GEORGIA 



134 AMERICAN HISTORY 

granted to them as " Trustees for establishing the Colony of 
Georgia in America." They were given all the land between 
the Savannah and Altamaha rivers westward indefinitely. 

202. The Founding of Savannah. Oglethorpe himself 
brought over the first party of settlers. He chose a site on 
the northern edge of the colony and there laid out the city of 
Savannah (1733). This location was already occupied by the 
village of an Indian tribe, the Yamacraws, who at first were 
inclined to resist the coming of the English. Their resistance 
introduces us to a remarkable Indian woman, who, like Poca- 
hontas, has found a place in American history. This was 
Mary Musgrove — as she was known after her conversion 
to Christianity and marriage with a South Carolina trader, 
John Musgrove. The Musgroves had estabhshed a trading 
post among the Yamacraws, and it was due to the influence 
of Mary Musgrove that her people were induced to make a 
treaty with Oglethorpe by which they ceded a large tract of 
land and consented to the foundation of Savannah. 

It was the desire of the trustees to open their colony to 
oppressed Protestants of all countries — even such generous 
minds as these were not ready to extend their invitation to 
all Christians — and many Germans^ soon emigrated to 
Georgia. Several noted men helped to start the colony. 
From England came Charles Wesley to be secretary to Ogle- 
thorpe. His celebrated brother John, the founder of the 
Methodist Church, also spent a part of his life in Georgia. 
So did that great preacher and reformer, George Whitefield. 
For many years Georgia was a magnet drawing to it not only 
the oppressed, but generous natures that were willing to work 
for the oppressed. 

203. The Strategic Significance of Georgia. However, 
there was another side to this movement. Oglethorpe was' a 

^ These were the "Salzburghers," thus described by Dr. A. G. Voight in "A 
Primer of Lutheranism. " — "Pious Lutheran people, who were driven from their 
homes in Austria by . . . (religious) persecution, many of them settled in 
Georgia in 1734. They brought two pastors with them, named Bolzius and 
Gronau." Bolzius is a highly interesting figure (see section 214, note). 




JAMES OGLETHORPE 



THE SPANISH DANGER 



I3S 



soldier as well as a philanthropist, and a renewal of war 
with Spain was as good as certain even before the Georgia 
charter was issued. Commercial rivalries, together with the 
defiance of Spanish laws by English traders, were fast bringing 
the two nations to a pitch of rage. Oglethorpe and others 
saw that Georgia would prove an added safeguard to English 
America. That they understood the situation was proved in 
1736, when Oglethorpe was temporarily in England and 
Spain protested against allowing him to take any soldiers back 
to Georgia. England's 
answer was the dis- 
patch of six hundred 
troops to the new col- 
ony. War began in 

1739- 

204. The Second 
Attack on St. Augus- 
tine. Thirty-five years 
had passed since the 
failure of the Caro- 
linians to take St. 
Augustine (section 190). Oglethorpe was eager to accom- 
plish what had then proved impossible, and the Carolinians 
were also ready to try again. The attempt was made under 
Oglethorpe's lead in 1740, but was not successful. Subse- 
quently there was bitter contention as to who was to blame. 
It is a matter of debate to this day. 

205. Third Spanish Invasion. Oglethorpe's most brilHant 
exploit took place in 1742. In that year the Spaniards made 
their third important attack upon English America.^ A 
fleet which has been described as comprising " fifty one sail " 
appeared off the coast of Georgia, while an army of some five 
thousand men advanced to sweep the English into the sea. To 
oppose these forces Oglethorpe had less than a thousand men, 

1 Counting the destruction of Stuart Town (section 141) as the first and the 
siege of Charleston (section 195) the second. 




JOHN WESLEY PREACHING TO THE INDIANS 



136 AMERICAN HISTORY 

all told, and no ships worth mentioning. This small army 
he concentrated at Frederica, where he fought a brilliant 
campaign that ended in the retreat of the invaders. Never 
again did they return in force to harass the Americans. 



m. COLLAPSE OF THE SPANISH POWER 

206. King George's War. The empire was at war with 
Spain from 1739 to 1744 and with Spain and France together 
from 1744 to 1748. In Europe this long struggle is known 
chiefly as the War of the Austrian Succession, because a 
scheme to divide Austria was one of the issues upon which 
all Europe took sides. Americans call it King George's War. 
In the course of it the power of Spain was entirely broken 
and England established herself as the first naval power in 
the world. Spanish commerce for a time almost disappeared 
from the seas. In one year six hundred Spanish ships struck 
their flags. Admiral Anson sailed round the world, plunder- 
ing and destroying Spaniards in a way that reminds us of 
the great voyage of Drake (section 32). 

207. The Capture of Louisburg. Not all the naval com- 
manders were so successful. Admiral Vernon, commanding an 
expedition made up in part of Americans, attempted vainly 
to take Cartagena in South America. Other Americans 
took part in an equally unfortunate attack on Cuba. But 
there was one foreign exploit conducted chiefly by Americans 
which was a brilliant success. The fortress of Louisburg, 
on Cape Breton Island at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, 
has been called the Gibraltar of the North. It was of great 
importance to the enemies of England. This fortress, in 
1745, the New Englanders determined to take. An army of 
four thousand men was raised and the command given to 
William Pepperell of Maine, who was supported by a small 
British fleet under Commodore Warren. After a resolute 
siege the northern Gibraltar was surrendered. 



THE SPANISH DANGER 



137 



208. The Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. The English empire 
had proved too strong for all its enemies. Spain was exhausted ; 
France was on the verge of bank- 
ruptcy. In 1748 was negotiated 
the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. By 
that treaty Louisburg was given 
back to France in return for con- 
cessions in other parts of the 
world. The treaty was advanta- 
geous to old England but the New 
Englanders felt that their interests 
had been sacrificed to those of the 
mother country. The grievance 
rankled and was never forgotten. 

By the series of wars between 
1701 and 1748, Spain was rendered 
powerless to check the growth of 
the English colonies. The way 
was cleared for a duel, between France and England, and be- 
tween the principles they stood for, to dominate America. 




SIR WILLIAM PEPPERELL 

Commander of the expedition 
against Louisburg. 



Selection from the Sources. Hart, Contemporaries, II, Nos. 39-41, 
118, 120-121 ; Sally, Original Narratives of Carolina ; Gibson, Journal 
of the Siege (of Louisburg) in Johnson's Life of Gibson; Macdonald, 
Source Book, Nos. 26, 27. 

Secondary Accounts. Osgood, Colonics, II, 4.29-432; Channing, 
History, II, 345-347, 363-365, 537-549; Doyle, English Colonies, III, 
345-353 ; V, 322-360, 375-383, 390-401, 406-410, 426; Parkman, Half 
Century of Conflict, I, chaps, i, iii, v, vii, viii; II, chaps, xviii-xxiv; 
McCrady, History of South Carolina, II, chaps, xi, xii; Wright, 
Oglethorpe, chaps, ii-vi, ix, xi-xvii; Root, Relations of Pennsylvania 
with the British Government, 279-292 ; Dickerson, American Colonial 
Government, 17, 133. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. Iberville. 2. The Jacobites. 3. The 
War of the Spanish Succession. 4. The Movement in South Caro- 
lina for Freedom of Worship. 5. The Policy of the Board of Trade. 
6. Oglethorpe. 7. The Expedition against Cartagena. 8. The Capture 
of Louisburg. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE MroDLE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 

209. The Intermediate Period. The fifty years between 
the Treaty of Ryswick and the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle 
might well be called the intermediate period in colonial life. 
We have seen that a new age began about 1696 (section 164) 
with the imperial policy of William III. We have also seen 
that the events which terminated in 1748 (section 208) put 
the Americans in a new relation to the rest of the world. Be- 
tween these two dates the life of America underwent a 
change. It is scarcely rash to say that while the colonists of 
1696 were in feeling Europeans, their grandchildren in 1748 
were beginning to feel that they were a separate people, 
Americans.^ 

210. A New Nationality. The conditions with which the 
colonists had to struggle during this intermediate period have 
been described. The boldness with which they met and re- 
pulsed their foreign enemies was shown in Chapter XI. 
The second part of Chapter X contains a picture of the internal 
problems by which they were confronted when the inter- 
mediate period began. Indians, and the hard life of a country 
only half settled, were the chief sources of difficulty. During 
the fifty years of the " Spanish danger " both of these were 
largely overcome. Out of the struggles of that time came 
forth a new people — bold, resourceful, prompt, and tenacious. 

211. The Indians in the Intermediate Period. Two im- 
portant changes took place in Indian relations. The powerful 

1 It is, of course, impossible to say just when the colonial English began to be 
conscious that they were a separate people. It would not be safe to date the 
beginning of the change earlier than 1748. 

138 



MIDDLE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 139 



tribe of the Cherokees acknowledged themselves subjects 
of England. As the Cherokees held all the mountain passes 
westward from Georgia and the Carolinas, they formed a 
valuable bulwark against the French in Louisiana. Thus they 
signified to the South much that the Iroquois signified to the 
North. The second change concerned the Iroquois. After 
the defeat of the Tuscaroras (section 196) that tribe retreated 
northward and joined the confederacy of the Iroquois, known 
thenceforth as the Six Nations. Whether the Tuscaroras 
influenced the Iroquois 
against the English 
would be hard to say, 
but it is plain that the 
task of keeping the 
latter loyal grew more 
and more difficult. 
However it was suc- 
cessfully performed all 
through the intermedi- 
ate period. About the 
middle of the century 
the Six Nations were 
dominated by the gen- 
ius of Sir William Johnson. Johnson Hall, a castle which 
he built near Schenectady, was on the edge of the Iroquois 
country. There he lived as agent of the crown and practically 
ruled the Iroquois many years. 

212. The Conquest over Natural Obstacles. Trade with 
the Indians was an increasing source of profit to the Americans, 
but it was only one of many. By the middle of the eighteenth 
century the Americans were trading with all parts of the world. 
Their ships took abroad rice from the Carolinas ; tobacco from 
Virginia ; beef, corn, iron ore from the middle colonies ; lumber, 
fish, and rum from New England. Returning they brought 
home luxuries of all sorts from every great seaport of Europe 
and Asia — teas, coffees, silks, linens, wines, china, glassware, 




THE IROQUOIS COUNTRY 
As finally limited by a treaty at Fort Stanwix, 1768. 



I40 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



silverware. The Americans overcame the wilderness on 
land, converting the whole seaboard into cultivated country, 
but also compelled the sea to become an cxhaustless source 
of wealth. A vivid passage in Edmund Burke describes 
the universal prevalence of the whale ships of New England, 

and tells how the most 
remote ocean was "but 
a stage and resting 
place in the progress 
of their victorious in- 
dustry." 

2 13. American 
Wealth. Everywhere 
the Americans had been 
rewarded for the per- 
sistence of their hard 
struggle with nature. 
Prosperity was univer- 
sal ; wealth was fre- 
quent. A Swiss " pro- 
moter " — as we say 
nowadays - — • issued an 
advertisement during 
this period which as- 
serts: "There are be- 
tween five and six hun- 
dred houses in Charles 
Town,^ the most of 
which arc very costly. 
... If you travel into the country, you will see stately 
Buildings, noble Castles, and an infinite Number of all 
Sorts of Cattle." One of the richest men of that day was 




MARTHA WASHINGTON WHEN A 
YOUNG WOMAN 

A type of Southern aristocracy. 



^ Thus "Charleston," South Carolina, was written in colonial times. This 
advertisement may have some of the defects of modern "booming," but un- 
doubtedly had a basis in fact. It was prepared by John Peter Purry of Neuf- 
chatel in 1731. 



MIDDLE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 



141 



Colonel William Fitzhugh of Virginia. His house was de- 
scribed as a " very good dwelling house with many rooms 
in it, four of the best of them hung and nine of them plenti- 
fully furnished with all things necessary and convenient and 
all houses for use furnished with brick chimneys, four good 
cellars, a Dairy, Dovecot, Stable, Barn, Henhouse, Kitchen 
and all other conveniences." What is meant by rooms being 




PRINGLE HOUSE, CHARLESTON, S.C. 
Built about 1760. 

'' hung " is. shown in a letter from Sir WiHiam Pepperell (who 
got his title for service at Louisburg) to a merchant in England. 
Sir WilHam sent over the plan of a room he was furnishing and 
wrote, " Geet mock Tapestry or painted Canvass lay'd 
in Oyls for ye same and send me." Especially fine rooms were 
hung with tapestry, ornamental leather, or pictured wall 
paper. Of the city of New York John Oldmixon wrote that 
" there are now about iioo houses, and near 7000 inhabitants 
in it. The houses are well built, the meanest of them said 



142 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



to be worth one hundred pounds, which cannot be said of 
any city in England. The great Church here was built in the 
year 1695 and is a very handsome edifice." 

214. The Slave Trade. Almost all these rich Americans 
of the middle of the eighteenth century were interested in 
slavery or the slave trade. Georgia, indeed, had attempted for 
a time to get on without slavery, but soon fell into hne with 

the other colonies.^ In the 
South, by 1750 there were great 
numbers of slaves. Though 
they were steadily decreasing 
in the North, commerce in 
slaves had become a source of 
wealth to northern merchants. 
The slave trade, of which so 
much has since been written, 
became an important English 
industry subsequent to the 
Treaty of Utrecht. One of the 
provisions of that treaty is 
known as the " asiento," or 
j)rivilege to carry slaves to the 
Spanish West Indies. The 
trade was fostered by the Eng- 
lish government and looked 
upon as one of the important 
English industries. Several 
times when colonial legislatures tried to lay import duties on 
slaves, the home government interfered in the interest of 
British traders and forced them to desist. 




A DANDY ABOUT 1760 

Portrait of Nicolas Boylston, merchant, 
Boston. 



* The Germans who had settled in the interior and the planters of the coast 
settlements disagreed over slavery. The coast settlers petitioned the trustees 
of Georgia to permit ihc introduction of slaves. The Germans led by Bolzius 
(section 202, note) opposed. At first, the party of Bolzius was successful. 
Eventually, however, they yielded ; the planters had their way, and the trustees 
consented to the introduction of slavery into Georgia. 



MIDDLE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 143 



5 5 

618 

r8 S 

M 



215. Commercial Restrictions. But with all their wealth, 
the colonies had scarcely any manufactures. The Lords of 
Trade (section 163) watched America with jealous eyes, and 

as soon as any industry became 

a rival of anything in England, 
steps were taken to destroy it. 
In 1732 the manufacture of 
hats in America began to in- 
terfere with the English trade 
and exportation of hats from 
America was forbidden. In 
1733 the Sugar Act, called also 
the Molasses Act, was passed 
by Parliament. It laid heavy 
duties on all sugar imported 
into America from all coun- 
tries not under the control of 
England. This act was passed 
in the interests of English 
capitalists who owned estates 
in the West Indies and was 
designed to break up trade 
between America and their 
competitors in the French pos- 
sessions. The American manu- 
facture of iron and steel was 
prohibited by act of Parha- 
ment in 1750. Americans 
might ship iron ore to England, 
but they must not compete 
with the Enghsh manufacture. 

216. Smoldering Discontent. In all these ways England 
was but following up the colossal blunder made by Wilham III 
(section 157). The Lords of Trade systematically carried 
out the idea that the colonies were not states of the em- 
pire (section 160), but mere dependents of England to be 



A TABLE of the Faiue 
and height of Colns^ as 
they HOttf-^afs in Pennfyl- 
vania. Leaft 

Valae.jWeightj 

EMgt. Guineas at i 14. ol $.,6 
French Guineas i 13 61 
Moidores - • - 236 
Johannes's • - - 5 IS o 
Half Johannes's • a 17 6 
Caioline« - - • i 14 o 
OutchorGer. Ducat, o 14 o 
French milled Piftoles 166 
'%pani<h Piftoles 170 

Arabioo Chequins -0136 
Other Gt>Jd Coin, per 

Ountt ... 6 
French Sihrer Crowns o 
Spanifli milled Pieces 

of 8. - -« - - o 7 6| 17 6 
OthergoodcoinedSpan. 

Silver^ ftr Ounce o S 6 

The Pixtportion of Gold to Silvetf !o 
£H^atid'ntZ% d : 1 : : O : 15 

I Ounce Troy of Gold (2» Car.') 
is worth Sterling ^, ^ 178' 
r 'Ounce Sterling Silver, 05a 



S o 
7 6,>7 



PAGE FROM POOR RICHARD'S AL- 
MANAC 

Showing money in use in eighteenth 
century. 



144 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



used in whatever way might profit Englishmen. After fifty 
years of this pohcy it is not strange that the Americans were 
beginning to resent it. In 1750 there were not yet many open 
signs of discontent. Nevertheless, all through the century 
there had been frequent bickerings between the colonial 
legislatures and the royal governors. In spite of Parliament 
the Americans insisted that they were entitled to all the rights 
of Englishmen and that if the Bill of Rights did not apply to 
the colonies (section 157) it ought to. 

217. American Politicians. In a word, all this resolute and 
prosperous America had " a chip on its shoulder." It was 




1 r r i^* ^ 



Ci til ^ 



4!«^i^^£a| 



THE "PALACE" AT NEW BERNE 
Residence of the Royal Governor of North Carolina. 

tired of being treated as the mere ward of England. Americans 
in 1750 were thinking again of their grandfathers and great- 
grandfathers and of the old idea that they were subjects 
of the king of England but not of a Parliament to which they 
sent no representatives. And most of them were eager politi- 
cians. Having no opportunity to take part in the government 
of the empire, they made up for that deprivation by taking a 
great interest in local affairs. In every colony there was one 
house of the legislature to which Americans could be elected. 
Everywhere, except in Connecticut, and Rhode Island,^ this 
popular house was opposed by a governor sent out from 

' In 1776 these two still elected their Kovernors. Maryland, Pennsylvania, 
and Delaware were proprietary colonies. The rest were royal provinces. 
Georgia had been transformed into a province in 1752. 



MIDDLE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 145 



England. Between the two stood the council, appointed 
either by the governor or the king, which played the part 
almost of what we know to-day as an " upper chamber." It 
also served as the highest court of the colony. Roughly 
speaking, these two — the Assembly and the Council — were 
related to each other about as were the House of Commons 
and the House of Lords in England. The " lower house," 
as the popular body was called, paid the governor's salary, 




PHILADELPHIA ABOUT 1740 
From an old print. 

often with such bad grace that the governors besought the 
crown to find some way to pay their salaries without asking 
leave of the Assemblies. 

218. Other Political Activities. The political restlessness 
of the Americans found other means of expression. Every- 
where the method of conducting local matters gave scope for 
the political instinct. The South generally had the Enghsh 
county system : in each county a board of " quarter ses- 
sions," also known as the County Court, was appointed by 
the governor, and this board looked after the taxation of the 
county and the administration of justice. Pennsylvania 
had the same system except that the county officials were 
chosen by the people of the county. Towns, which were 
smaller than counties, were the political units of New England. 



146 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



In a New England town all the voters met periodically in 
the town meeting, which formed a complete democracy almost 
like the miniature democracies of remote ancient times. That 
is to say, the taxes were laid, the local officers were elected, 
the business of the town transacted, all by the same body of 

men in the same assembly. 
There were also towns in New 
York where the county board 
was made up of their represen- 
tatives. 

219. The Colonial Agents. 
In all the colonies except Rhode 
Island and Connecticut, the 
governor could veto acts of 
the Assembly, and any colonial 
legislation might be vetoed by 
the king. Consequently on 
many occasions the Americans 
had need of some one to look 
after their interests in London. 
Thus each colony got in the 
way of employing an agent. 
The agent, in some cases, ap- 
peared before the Privy Coun- 
cil, or at the bar of the House 
of Commons, and presented the 
colonial side of some question 
in which the Americans were 
interested. Whenever the 
Americans felt themselves wronged, they could appeal to the 
king in council. 

220. Freedom of Speech. One new principle had been 
added by the Americans to the body of Enghsh law. In 1735 a 
poor printer in New York, Peter Zenger, was publisher of a 
newspaper, the New York Weekly Journal. The governor 
had removed the chief justice because the latter had refused 




ST. MICHAEL'S, CHARLESTON, 
Typical colonial church. 



S.C. 



MIDDLE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 147 



to acknowledge the right of the governor to order certain cases 
to be tried without a jury, and the governor's action was 
severely criticized in the Weekly Journal. As a consequence 
Zenger found himself in court on a charge of libel. Public- 
spirited men of New York felt that the trial was an attack 
on the freedom of the press and secured the first lawyer in 
America, Andrew Hamilton from Philadelphia, to defend 
Zenger. This famous trial ended in estabhshing the principle 
that the truth can be spoken no matter whom it injures with- 







L m. Ill it) Sti 



^1 ti Jf sH II 

^i| 8 1! fi IM 







HARVARD COLLEGE IN 1726 

out fear of the accusation of libel. Gouverneur Morris after- 
ward spoke of the Zenger trial as " the morning star of that 
liberty which subsequently revolutionized America." 

221. General Ferment in America. A general increase 
of interest in things of the mind took place between the years 
1740 and 1760. The first great metaphysician of America, 
Jonathan Edwards, appeared in New England and inspired a 
fresh zeal for religion. About the same time Whitefield 
(section 202) made a tour of the colonies, preaching in many 
places with immense effect. In 1740 he was invited to come 
from Savannah to Boston, which he did, and later preached 
before Harvard College. The work of these remarkable 



148 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



men culminated in what is known as the Great Awakening, 
a rehgious revival which was felt throughout the colonies. 
One result of the revival was the appearance of the Methodist 
Church in America.^ About the same time Henry Melchoir 
iMuhlenburg roused and organized the American Lutherans. 
The establishment of the first Lutheran synod in America, 
the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, was due to Muhlcnburg.- 

222. Increase of Col- 
leges. It is to be noted 
that a great increase in the 
number of American col- 
leges occurred at this same 
time. The two little col- 
leges which dated from the 
seventeenth century, Har- 
vard and William and 
jNIary (section 173), had 
been joined by Yale early 
in the eighteenth century. 
Five more were founded 
between 1746 and 1769. 
Four of these are now 
known as Princeton Uni- 
versity, Columbia Univer- 
sity, the University of 
Pennsylvania, and Brown University. The fifth is still called 
Dartmouth College. 

223. The Man of the Hour. Perhaps the most characteristic 
American of this time was Benjamin Franklin. Born at 
Boston in 1706, he went to Philadelphia as a poor lad to seek 
his fortune. He began as a prmter and rose to be owner and 

> Wesley, the founder of ^Methodism, was a friend of Whitefield, and had 
spent several years in Georgia (section 202). His first hymn book was pub- 
lished at Charleston, 1737. 

2 There were Lutherans in New Sweden as early as 1638; others settled in 
New Amsterdam; still others in Georgia and Pennsylvania. But they had no 
general organization until Muhlcnburg drew them into union. 




Li.iUL VALE 
The founder of Yale College. 




Frum the painting by D. Martin. Courtesy of U. W. Biddle. 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 



MIDDLE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 149 



editor of a paper, the Pennsylvania Gazette. He was the first 
American who won fame in Europe as a writer and scientist. 
It was Franklin who made the discovery that Kghtning and 
frictional electricity are the same force. The Royal Academy, 
the most distinguished scientific body in England, elected 
Frankhn one of its members. In 
America he had wide influence 
through his poKtical and satirical 
writings such as " How a Great 
Empire may become Small " and 
" Poor Richard's Almanac." He 
was shrewd, witty, practical, with a 
wonderful knowledge of men and a 
deep understanding of affairs. In 
1753 he was deputy postmaster for 
the colonies^ and later was the prin- 
cipal American agent in London. 
Frankhn, more than any other one 
man, roused the Americans to claim 
again all the political rights which 
had been claimed by their ancestors 
a hundred years before, and which 
had been taken from them by 
WilHam III. 

Selections from the Sources. Hart, 
Contemporaries, I, Nos. 104, 126, 306; II, 
Nos. 19-24, 26, 28-31, 35-38, 47-108, 113- 
116, 122; William Byrd, History of the 
Dividing Line (see Bassett, Writings of 
Colonel William Byrd) ; Maury, Memoirs of a Huguenot Family ; 
Franklin, Autobiography ; Poor Richard's Almanac; Force, Tracts, 
II ; Macdonald, Source Book, No. 28. 

Secondary Accounts. Lecky, History of England, III, 290-330; 
Egerton, British Colonial Policy, 145-146; Dickerson, American 
Colonial Government, 39-57, 195-209, 315-323, 336-356; Beer, British 
Colonial Policy, 16-30, 52-131, 188-192, 252-273; Thwaites, Colonies, 




electrical machine de- 
signed BY franklin 



^He held the office until 1774. 



I50 AMERICAN HISTORY 

24-26, 46, 81, 97, 116-130; Fisher, Colonial Era, 216-236, 241-286, 
292-312; Lodge, English Colonies, chaps, i, iii, v, vii, xiv, xviii, 
xxi, passim; Greene, Provincial America, Colonial Governor; Fiske, 
Old Virginia, II, 30-44, 162-173, 289-308, 333-337, 37o-4oo; Duicli and 
Quaker Colonies, II, 209-257, 294-317; New France and New England, 
197-232; Doyle, English in America, I, 266-274, 323-327, 343-350, 
363-380; III, 8-14, 273-376, 395-404; Weeden, New England, I, 314- 
330, 379-387 ; II, 473-492, 607-713 ; Channing, Town and County 
Government ; Dewky, Financial History, sees. 3-11 ; Mereness, Mar3'/a«(/. 
Topics for Special Reports, i. Changes in America between 1697 
and 1748. 2. Sir William Johnson. 3. Domestic Life about 1750. 
4. Restrictions laid on the Colonies by the Crown. 5. The Zenger 
Case. 6. Franklin. 7. Character of the Empire in the Middle of the 
Eighteenth Century. 



CHAPTER XIII 

WILLIAM PITT 

224. A World-wide Issue. At this critical moment, the 
Americans became involved in one of the greatest events of 
history. Among the countless wars that make history such 
tragic reading, few have had a permanent effect upon man- 
kind. They have come and gone like thunderstorms, and their 
effects have gradually disappeared. Now and then, however, 
a war has changed the line upon which civilization was de- 
veloping. This has happened only when two powerful races 
have become the incarnations of ideas that are incapable of 
compromise. Such was the war between the Persians and 
the Greeks ; such also was the civil war in the Roman world 
between Caesar and Pompey ; and such, in the eighteenth 
century, was the world-wide duel between the English and the 
French. 

225. France, the Incarnation of Absolutism. France had 
become the very incarnation of the principle of absolutism. 
Louis XIV summed up the French theory of government 
when he said, " I am the state." His reign marks the highest 
point ever reached in western Europe by the power of kings. 
All the monarchs of Europe were his imitators and outside the 
British empire, his influence was unbounded. The French 
language was the diplomatic language of the whole world and 
to a large extent it was the language of the upper classes 
everywhere. The one obstacle in the way of universal French 
influence was the stubborn empire which spoke English. 

226. The Democratic Principle. With all her faults, 
England was the champion of the opposite principle. In deal- 
ing with her relations to the colonies we must learn to sepa- 



152 AMERICAN HISTORY • 

rate abstract questions from practical ones. In the political 
thinking of the English, on both sides of the water, had been 
slowly worked out those great principles of free government 
upon which to-day every country in the world has founded its 
system of authority. So far as political theories went, both 
Americans and Britons agreed. But circumstances, as we 
have seen, had quietly drawn them apart in feehng, with the 
result that unaware to themselves they had already become 
separate peoples. When England was opposed on any point 
by her colonies, there flashed up in Englishmen pretty much 
the same feehng that they had when opposed by foreigners. 
Principles were made to yield to pride. Arrogance took the 
place of reason. But even then, England treated her colonies 
immeasurably better than did the absolutist nations of the 
Continent. The effect of free institutions was gradually chang- 
ing even the poHtical temper of Englishmen. From England, 
and from her American colonies, a new set of institutions, a 
new pohtical temper, was destined to be distributed to all 
the nations of the earth. The question in 1750, on which all 
the future depended, was this : Shall France, the incarnation 
of absolutism, remove from her path the only people that have 
free institutions ? The advance of the French over the world, 
as has been well said, was not unUke the advance of the 
Persians more than two thousand years before. 

227. The Advance of the French. America had the honor 
of bearing the brunt of the French attack. Hardly had the 
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle been signed than France began to 
prepare for the final struggle. In 1749 Celoron de Bienville 
took possession of the Ohio valley in the name of France. 
That same year several gentlemen of Virginia, among whom 
were Lawrence and Augustine Washington, organized the 
Ohio Company and sent out an expedition to explore the 
region which is now the state of Ohio. The Canadians 
promptly began establishing forts in the upper valley of the 
Ohio River. Thereupon, the governor of Virginia picked out 
a bold and capable young man and commissioned him to 



WILLIAM PITT 153 

carry word to the French that the Ohio country belonged to 
Virginia by reason of the old grants from James I which gave 
Virginia all the western land to the Pacific. This messenger 
was George Washington. But in spite of the defiance from 
Virginia, the French continued to advance. They seized the 
" forks of the Ohio " where Pittsburgh now stands, and built 
there Fort Duquesne. Meanwhile a small Virginian- force 
was moving westward to protect the frontier. Young Wash- 
ington commanded it. On May 28, 1754, at a place called 
Great Meadows, the French and Virginians met. There was 
a short, sharp engagement ; the French commander was 
killed and his men forced to retreat. But soon they returned, 
and Washington was compelled to surrender a small fortifica- 
tion he had raised and named Fort Necessity. He was per- 
mitted, however, to retreat to Virginia. In this humble way 
began the mighty struggle that was to affect all succeeding 
history.^ 

228. The Newcastle Administration. The prime minister 
of England, Thomas, Duke of Newcastle, was perhaps the 
most incompetent England has ever had. He could not make 
up his mind what to do. The Lords of Trade however took 
action. They called a congress of colonial representatives to 
meet at Albany to make sure of the friendship of the Six 
Nations. In June, 1754, the Congress met, but it did little 
except discuss plans for a union of all the colonies. One plan 
was proposed by Franklin. Nothing came of it at the time. 
Meanwhile, Newcastle was forced into action, and although 
he still refused to declare war, General Edward Braddock was 
sent over from England with two regiments of regular soldiers 
to capture Fort Duquesne, while Admiral Boscawen was 
ordered to intercept a French fleet carrying supplies to Canada. 
Both made failures. Braddock was attacked by the French 
in the summer of 1755 near the mouth of the Monongahela 

1 These events inspired Macaulay's striking remark, "The firing of a gun 
in the backwoods of North America brought on a conflict which drenched 
Europe in blood." 



154 AMERICAN HISTORY 

River. He died fighting gallantly, and the wreck of his army 
retreated, the retreat being covered skillfully by Virginia 
troops under Washington. Boscawen did no more than cap- 
ture a ship or two and rouse the French to fury. They now 
prepared for war on a large scale. It was by Americans how- 
ever that the next great blow was struck. The Americans 
naturally expected fresh invasions from Canada, and feared, 
also, that the French population of Nova Scotia would seize the 
first opportunity to take sides with their French kinsman. 
To forestall any such action. Admiral Boscawen and the 
authorities of Massachusetts decided upon a swift and cruel 
stroke. An army which included two thousand Massachu- 
setts troops was dispatched to Nova Scotia where some six 
thousand people of French descent were forced to go aboard 
ship and suffer removal to distant colonies far from the seat of 
war. This unhappy " deportation of the Acadians," as they 
were still called (section 134), is one of the most deplored 
among the many deplorable cruelties in the dark history of 
war.^ 

229. The Seven Years' War. Newcastle was forced to 
declare war upon France, May 18, 1756, but the timidity and 
incapacity of the prime minister were punished by disasters in 
all parts of the world. English possessions were invaded 
by the French and the English nayy humiliated. In the face 
of such wide failure the Newcastle administration collapsed. 
A revolution in the British policy took place and Wilham Pitt 
in 1757 was given full control of military affairs. Almost 
instantly the aspect of things changed. It is due to Pitt 
that this Seven Years' War was made a splendid success. 

France had formed alHances with the other great despotic 
monarchies, Austria and Russia. Sweden and Saxony had also 
joined her. England was alHed with Prussia- and it was Pitt 

* See Longfellow's account of it in "Evangeline." 

' Before the middle of the eighteenth century Austria had been the chief 
power in Germany with France for her steadfast enemy. Frederick the Great, 
however, had suddenly raised Prussia to a commanding position. Wishing 



WILLIAM PITT 155 

who saw the importance of the Prussian alliance more clearly 
than any one else. The shadow of France was over the whole 
world. If only France and her allies were beaten back, it mat- 
tered not where the fighting was done. Pitt told his country- 
men, " I will conquer America for you in Germany." To 
that end, he poured money into Prussia, while Frederick — 
the greatest captain then Uving — suppHed the armies and 
the generalship. 

230. British-Prussian Success. In fiercely contested battles 
Frederick served splendidly the cause both of England and 
America. His famous victories, such as Rossbach and Zorn- 
dorf, are steps toward the dehverance of America from the 
shadow of French conquest. Pitt aided him not only with 
money but with men. Mixed armies of EngHsh and Germans 
defeated the French at Crefeld in 1758, and still more bril- 
hantly in the celebrated battle of Minden in 1759. 

In all parts of the world, the fiery spirit of England's great 
war minister filled his subordinates like an inspiration. In 
distant India, Chve won the battle of Plassy and shattered a 
native empire on which France had relied as a counter check 
to England in the East. At sea the audacity of Pitt's admirals 
knew no bounds. Sir Edward Hawke broke the strength of 
the French navy in the terrible battle of Quiberon, fought 
under conditions of wind and sea which had led his sailing 
master to protest that Hawke's scheme was madness. 

In America success followed success. Louisburg surren- 
dered to General Amherst and Admiral Boscawen, July 26, 

to nip Prussia's greatness in the bud, Austria had made up her ancient quarrel 
with France and set about forming a league against Frederick. This shifting 
of international relations is admirably summed up by Professor Ferdinand 
Schwill : "England and France . . . were looking for continental allies; and 
as Prussia . . . was induced at last to sign a convention with England, France 
. . . accepted the proffered haxid of Prussia's rival, Austria. In the spring of 
1756, this diplomatic revolution was an accomplished fact. The two great 
political questions of the day, the rivalry between England and France involving 
the supremacy of the seas, and between Prussia and Austria touching the control 
of Germany, were to be fought out in the great Seven Years' War. . . ." "Politi- 
cal History of Modern Europe," 317. 



156 AMERICAN HISTORY 

1758. In November of the same year General Forbes occupied 
Fort Duquesne. 

231. The Conquest of Canada. Pitt had formed the daring 
resolve to drive the French completely out of America, and 
to that end sent James Wolfe, supported by a fleet, to take 
Quebec. There the gallant Montcalm, viceroy of Canada, 
made his last stand to save French power in the West. Wolfe, 
however, by means of a daring night attack, got possession 
of the Heights of Abraham which overlook the city. Mont- 
calm's attempt to dislodge him, September 13, 1759, brought 
on the battle that decided the future of the western world. 
It was short but furious, ending in the rout of the French. 
Both commanders fell mortally wounded. 

232. The Rebellion against Pitt. At this juncture, when 
Pitt had the game in his hands, a startHng change took place 
in English politics; there was a rebellion against Pitt's 
leadership. We must pause here and review a train of events 
that came near making the great war a disaster to the cause of 
liberty throughout the world, instead of its chief salvation. 

In a previous chapter we had a ghmpse of the Tories of 1704 
and their unsuccessful attempt to destroy religious freedom 
in South Carolina. In 17 10 they got control of the govern- 
ment of England and proceeded to enact some of the most 
despotic legislation that has disgraced the English statute 
books. In the reaction which soon followed, they were 
driven from power and were unable to revive their political 
importance for nearly fifty years. 

During all that time the Whigs controlled the government. 
As always happens under such conditions, the ruling party, 
in spite of its high ideas, became arbitrary and at last selfish 
and corrupt. By degrees it lost its principles. In the middle 
of the eighteenth century there was little to choose between 
the two parties and English political Hfe was characterized by a 
general stagnation. From that condition Pitt had roused his 
country. He had breathed new life into the Whig party. 
Once more its high principles became real things, genuine mo- 



WILLIAM PITT 157 

tives for action. But by so doing Pitt broke his party in 
two. Many Whigs had lost their love of freedom and were 
now quite willing to unite with the Tories in a revival of 
despotic government, if only they could make it profitable to 
themselves. 

Here was a great opportunity for a king who should attempt 
to seize it. Just at this moment, by fateful coincidence, a 
new king mounted the throne (October 25, 1760). This was 
George the Third. He had been brought up by a high-spirited 
mother who despised democracy. " George, be a King," was 
her constant admonition to her son whose education she had 
intrusted to an out-and-out Tory, the Scotch Earl of Bute. 
It was Bute who framed the speech made by the king on his 
accession.^ A few days later the king commanded his ministers 
to make room for Bute in the cabinet. Presently Bute and 
Pitt disagreed over the conduct of the war, and Bute carried 
his point. Pitt resigned. Thus, for the first time in half a 
century, the believers in absolutism again had control of the 
government of England. 

233. Frederick Deserted. The course pursued by the 
Tories was deeply dishonorable. Frederick, who had served 
England so splendidly, had lately suffered terrible reverses. 
He had been defeated by the Russians in " a battle of unex- 
ampled carnage at Kunersdorf," and Berhn had been sacked 
by the invaders. At this terrible crisis the EngHsh absolu- 
tists abandoned England's friend. They broke off Pitt's 
alliance with Prussia,^ knowing France was now but too glad 

^ The "King's speech" is a paper reviewing the condition of the kingdom, 
which is prepared in advance with the aid of the ministers, to be read at the 
opening of ParUament. 

-To profit again by the succinctness of Professor Schwill : "For a moment 
now (after Kunersdorf) it looked as if he (Frederick) were lost but he somehow 
raised another force about him and the end of the campaign found him not 
much worse off than the beginning. However . . . when on the death of 
George II, the new English monarch, George III, refused (1761) to pay the 
annual subsidy by which alone Frederick was enabled to fill the thinned ranks 
of the army each year and equip the men, the proud king himself could hardly 
keep up his hopes. . . ." 



158 AMERICAN HISTORY 

to make peace with England on almost any terms so as to 
be able to turn all her attention to her other enemies. By a 
treaty signed at Paris February 10, 1763, the French gave up 
all their possessions in North America except two small islands 
just south of Newfoundland. All French America, east of the 
Mississippi, except the city of New Orleans and its immediate 
vicinity, was ceded to England ; the remainder was trans- 
ferred from France to Spain, which in turn ceded Florida to 
England. 

234. George Grenville. Bute who was utterly unfit for 
leadership soon tired of being prime minister and in April, 1763, 
resigned. He was succeeded by his chief supporter, George 
Grenville, one of those reactionary Whigs who had taken sides 
with the Tories against Pitt. Grenville had gone over, prac- 
tically, to the principle of absolutism. With regard to America 
he held in all their offensiveness the vicious doctrines made 
current by WilHam III. It was England's prerogative, 
Grenville reasoned, to decide what was best for the colonies, 
and impose it upon them whether they liked or not. In his 
stubborn way he honestly desired the safety of America and 
was genuinely troubled over a great Indian outbreak which 
took place in 1763, when the Indians of the Northwest, headed 
by the daring Pontiac, attacked the frontier posts and were 
with difficulty subdued.^ Grenville argued that the safety 
of America demanded the presence there of a considerable 
part of the British regular army. He proposed to compel 
the colonies to contribute to the cost of maintaining this army 
of defense. 

235. The Temper of America in 1763. However, it was a 
most unfortunate moment at which to attempt to dictate 
to the Americans. They were enthusiastic believers in Pitt. 
He had made them feel that they were to be recognized at 
last as copartners with England in the management of the 
empire. Now came this stupid and arbitrary Grenville, 

' For this greatest of Indian wars, see Parkman's fine account, "The Con- 
spiracy of Pontiac." 



WILLIAM PITT 159 

rudely thrusting them back into the position of dependents 
of the premier state. ^ 

236. Writs of Assistance. Several recent events had shown 
that they were not to be trifled with. At Boston (1761) 
there had been significant opposition to the issue of what 
were known as " writs of assistance," which gave revenue 
ofhcers general authority to search any premises supposed to 
contain smuggled goods. Though the movement to abolish 
such writs was not successful, it generated intense and 
widespread indignation. In the course of the opposition 
James Otis - described the Navigation Acts, which made 
necessary these writs, as " a taxation law made by a foreign 
legislature without our consent." 

237. The Parson's Cause. Another significant event was 
a law case in Virginia known as the " Parson's Cause " (1763). 
The British government had vetoed a Virginia act reducing 
the salaries of the established clergy. Speaking upon this 
point, a young lawyer, Patrick Henry ,^ made the bold declara- 

^ The British side of the question is ably presented by Lecky, "History of 
England," III, 333-358. The advanced student should pursue at some length 
topics 5 and 6 in the list of reports following this chapter. He will find especially 
helpful Beer, "British Colonial Policy," 31-131, 252-273; Dickerson, "Ameri- 
can Colonial Government," 320-356; Pitt's "Correspondence." See further 
Root and Ames, " Syllabus of American Colonial History," 87-89. The British 
apologists argue that Grenville's scheme was reasonable and that something 
of the sort had become absolutely necessary. Such appears to have been the 
case. Nevertheless, the great English historian Gardiner probably anticipates 
the final judgment of history when he says: "The British Parliament in fact 
had put itself in the position of Charles I when he levied ship-money. It was 
as desirable in the eighteenth century that Americans should pay for the army 
necessary for their protection as it had been desirable in the seventeenth that 
Englishmen should pay for the fleet then needed to defend their coasts. Ameri- 
cans in the eighteenth century, however, like Englishmen in the seventeenth, 
thought that the first point to consider was the authority by which the tax was 
imposed. ... If the British Parliament could levy a stamp duty in America, 
it could levy other duties, and the Americans would thus be entirely at its 
mercy." "Students' History of England," 771. 

2 He resigned his position of advocate-general of the colony rather than 
serve the government in issuing such writs. See Hosmer, " Life of Hutchinson," 
chaps, iii-v. 

* See Tyler, "Patrick Henry," chap. v. 



i6o 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



tion, *' A king ... by disallowing acts of so salutary a nature, 
from being the Father of his people degenerates into a Tyrant 
and forfeits all rights to his subjects' obedience." 

238. The Proclamation Line. However, Grenville had 
made up his mind that the time had come to tighten the hold 
of the imperial government upon North America. With 
that end in view he caused the issue of a royal proclamation 
(1763) laying off the new territory ceded by France. Three 
new provinces were established — Quebec, East Florida, and 
West Florida.^ The southern boundary of Georgia was moved 
down to the St. Marys River. But the really important part 
of the proclamation concerned what has since been known as 
" the proclamation line." A line was drawn on the map 
along the watershed of the coast plain, and all territory west of 
it was reserved to the crown to be dealt with in the future as 
it might deem fit. Thus the old colo- 
nies whose charters ran from " sea to 
sea " were shut out from the IMissis- 
sippi valley. 

239. The Later Acts of Grenville. 
The next year (1764) Grenville got the 
Sugar Act passed.- It imposed on the 
Americans a system of duties designed 
to raise a revenue for the crown. Two 
other acts bearing on America, the 
Stamp Act and the Quartering Act, 
were passed in 1765. The latter em- 
powered officers of the crown to call on colonial governors 
to provide quarters for whatever troops the king might send 
to America. The Stamp Act was the most important of all. 
It required the Americans to pay a stamp duty on every legal 
document, will, license, land patent, commission, and bill 




REVENUE STAMP USED IN 
THE COLONIES 



1 The Floridas were ceded by Spain as part of the agreement under the 
Treaty of Paris (section 233). 

* This was a reassertion of the earlier Sugar Act, or Molasses Act, of 1733 
(section 215). 



WILLIAM PITT i6i 

of sale ; also on playing cards, newspapers, pamphlets, and 
almanacs. 

240. The American Theory of the Empire. Grenville 
had failed to allow for the American theory of the empire. 
The Americans made a sharp distinction between what they 
called " internal " legislation and " external " legislation. 
They had submitted to the Navigation Laws and the restric- 
tions laid upon commerce on the ground that general imperial 
business should be left in the hands of the imperial govern- 
ment. Their sense of practicality admitted that, under the 
circumstances of the time, such a concession was necessary 
to preserve the empire. This was what they meant by " ex- 
ternal " legislation, which, they held, ParHament had a right 
to enact. But all taxes levied within a colony, all enactments 
that interfered with the everyday hfe of its people, were held 
by the Americans to be " internal " legislation. In these 
matters they doggedly insisted that each state of the empire 
was related to the crown in the same way, that everywhere 
these were local issues between the king and the local assembly, 
and that the smallest American colony was as completely 
its own mistress, in home affairs, as was mighty England her- 
self. To sum up their position in modern phraseology : 
they conceded to the premier state, because of the imperial 
burdens it bore, the whole enormous matter of the control and 
taxation of commerce, with all the profits arising therefrom, 
but they refused to admit the right of the premier state to 
have a voice in their local affairs.^ 

241. Opposition to the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act, being 
a violation of the latter principle, provoked instant and bitter 
opposition. John Hancock expressed the general feeling when 
he said, " I will never carry on business under such great dis- 

^ Whether this argument of the Americans was good law has been a subject 
of debate ever since. See a discussion of both sides in the "Cambridge Modern 
History," VII, 175-208 ; also, Channing, "History," III, 46-79; Beer, "British 
Colonial Policy," 308-316; Snow, "Administration of Dependencies," 128- 
168; Lecky, "History of England," III, 333-356; Hart, "Contemporaries," 
II, No. 142. 



1 62 AMERICAN HISTORY 

advantages and Burthen. I will not be a slave, I have a right 
to the libertys & Privleges of the English Constitution and I 
as an Englishman will enjoy them." The American feehng 
crystalHzcd in a resolution introduced into the Virginia legis- 
lature by Patrick Henry, which declared, " That every attempt 
to vest such power in any other person or persons whatever 
than the General Assembly ... is illegal, unconstitutional, 
and unjust and has a manifest tendency to destroy British 
as well as American Liberty." Associations were formed to 
resist the enforcement of the act. The attempt of Thomas 
Hutchinson, lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts, to put it 
into force caused a riot during which his house was sacked by 
a mob and for a time his life was in danger. 

242. The Stamp Act Congress. Massachusetts invited 
the other colonies to send delegates to a convention to con- 
sider the situation. Nine colonies responded.^ On October 
7, 1765, the so-called Stamp Act Congress met in New York. 
Petitions were drawn up and sent to the king, the House of 
Commons, and the House of Lords. The Congress also drew 
up a " Declaration of the Rights and Grievances of the Colo- 
nists in America." This document is one of the most note- 
worthy ever composed in our country. It embraces fourteen 
sections, some of which state grievances and others formulate 
principles. The most important sections are the first, second, 
third, and fifth, which read as follows : 

" I. That his Majesty's subjects, in these colonies, owe the 
same allegiance to the crown of Great Britain, that is owing 
from his subjects born within the realm, and all due sub- 
ordination to that august body the parliament of Great 
Britain. 

" II. That his Majesty's liege subjects in these Colo- 
nies are entitled to all the inherent rights and liberties 
of his natural born subjects witliin the kingdom of Great 
Britain. 

* Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Penn- 
sylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and South Carolina. 



WILLIAM PITT • 163 

" in. That the people of these colonies are not, and from 
their local circumstances cannot be, represented in the House 
of Commons of Great Britain. 

" V. That the only representatives of the people of these 
colonies are persons chosen therein by themselves and that no 
taxes ever have been, or can be constitutionally imposed on 
them, but by their respective legislatures." 

243. The New Whigs. The friends of despotism had gone 
too far. Though one wing of the old Whig party was quietly 
merging with the Tories, the other wing, the new Whigs, was 
steadily gaining ground. Led by Pitt, the Marquis of Rock- 
ingham, and Edmund Burke, these genuine Whigs roused 
all the political conscience of England to take sides with 
America. *' I rejoice," said Pitt, " that the Americans have 
resisted." 

Grenville, meanwhile, had been forced out of office on a 
purely British issue and Lord Rockingham had succeeded him. 
During his brief administration the Stamp Act was repealed 
(March 18, 1766). 

Though Rockingham was prime minister, Pitt was the man 
of the hour. In America enthusiasm for him was unbounded. 
The city of Pittsburg is a memorial of his popularity. In the 
old city of Charleston still stands a statue of Pitt set up in 
his honor by the grateful Assembly of South Carolina. No 
other statesman rivaled Pitt in his personal hold upon the 
mass of Englishmen. Without him the new Whig party — 
the patriotic branch of the old Whigs — was not yet strong 
enough to control England. In July, 1766, Pitt became 
prime minister. 

244. The Great Opportunity. It was a moment of crisis. 
No other English minister ever had so great an opportunity. 
The man who had made successful the great war had now the 
opportunity to reestablish in England those principles of free 
government which the war had saved to the world. At the 
same time he had an opportunity to unite all the parts of a 
vast empire in some perm^anent scheme of government which 




164 



WILLIAM PITT 165 

should put those principles into operation on a world-wide 
scale. 

Only once before had any statesman been confronted by so 
great an opportunity. Caesar became chief of the Roman 
world at a time when the relation between the capital and 
the provinces was not unlike the condition of the British em- 
pire in 1766. An essentially Tory policy had made the capital 
the tyrant of the provinces and had brought them to the verge 
of revolt. Cassar, alone among Roman statesmen, saw that 
there was but one way to save the empire. Rome had to 
reverse her despotic course ; she had to cease to exploit the 
provinces for her own gain ; she and they had to become 
mutual friends and equals. In respect to their opportunities, 
Pitt and Cassar are thus strikingly alike. Unfortunately 
the similarity does not extend to their achievements. Caesar 
lived to carry out his plan. He saved the Roman state from 
disruption and secured for it centuries of usefulness to man- 
kind. By one of the most lamentable ironies of fate, Pitt was 
struck down in dreadful illness, within six months after he 
became prime minister. ' 

245. The Defeat of the New Whigs. Though Pitt's name 
was allowed to stand as that of the prime minister for some 
time longer, he had no further relation with the government. 
He had suffered a complete physical collapse, and his mind 
was temporarily affected. The next few years he passed in 
seclusion, and though his health was at last restored and he 
returned to pubHc hfe (as the Earl of Chatham), he never again 
had a controHing voice in public affairs. On Pitt's breakdown, 
in the autumn of 1766, King George himself became the real 
master in Enghsh politics, and the reign of genuine Toryism 
began. 

246. The Turning Point of the Empire. To Americans, 
1766 must always be one of the great years of history. It 
was the last turning point in our relation with that ancient 
Enghsh monarchy in which all the roots of our distinctive 
institutions were planted. Furthermore, Wilham Pitt was the 



i66 AMERICAN HISTORY 

first leader beloved and followed by the whole body of Ameri- 
cans. He was our first national hero. His place in our his- 
tory is best described by the inscription on the pedestal of 
that statue set up in his honor at Charleston : 

In grateful memory 

of his services to his countrymen in general 

and to Americans in particular 

the Commons House of Assembly 

of South Carolina 

unanimously voted 

this statue 

of 

the Right Honorable William Pitt, Esquire 

who 

gloriously exerted himself 

in defending the freedom of Americans 

the true sons of England 

by promoting a repeal 

of the Stamp Act 

in the year 1766 

time 

shall sooner destroy 

this mark of their esteem 

than 

erase from their minds 

their just sense 
of his patriotic virtues 

Selections from the Sources. Hart, Contemporaries, II, Nos. 49, 
122-129, 133, 138-144; Macdonald, Source Book, Nos. 29-36; Select 
Charters, Nos. 51, 52, 54, 55; Adams, British Orations, I, 98, 150; Kim- 
ball, Correspondence of William Pitt, I, 36-50. 74-79, 121-123, 235-237, 
242-247; II, 88-90, 130-134, 276, 320, 348-354, 357-360, 373, 382, 

432-434- 

Maps. Thwaites, France in America, 36, 106, 204, 256, 268 ; Avery, 
History of the United States, IV, 60-61, 67, 78, 85, 89, 162, 199, 252, 276, 

277,352. 

Secondary Accounts. Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe, I, chaps. 1, 
ii, vi, vii, x, xiii ; H, chaps, xviii-xxx; Conspiracy of Pontiac, I, 
chaps, v-viii; II, xviii-xxii; Bancroft, History (last revision), II, 333- 
338, 419-533, 554-565; in, 3-49, 244. Lecky, History of Eng- 




WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM 



WILLIAM PITT 167 

land, I, 184-234, 470-515; 11, 477-565; in, 26-67, 333-358, 361-378; 
American Revolution (Woodburn edition), 42-49, 52-105; Beer, British 
Colonial Policy, 16-131, 179-192, 210-316; Fisher, Struggle for Inde- 
pendence, I, 49-69, 82-112; Channing, History, II, 527-579, 602-603; 
Root, Relations of Pennsylvania with the British Government, 84-90, 
124-127, 328-334, 390-396; Frothingham, Rise of the Republic, 158- 
199, 201-212; Tyler, Patrick Henry, chap, iv; Literary History of the 
American Revolution, 44-120, 293-315 ; Tudor, Life of James Otis (Cam- 
bridge Modern History, VII), 175-208. 

Bibliography. Root and Ames, Syllabus of American Colonial His- 
tory, 87-96. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. The French Colonial Policy. 2. The 
EngHsh in the Ohio Country. 3. Frederick the Great. 4. England 
in the Seven Years' War. 5. Attitudes of the Colonies toward the War. 
6. Colonial Trade during the War. 7. Wolfe. 8. The Whig Party in 
the Eighteenth Century. 9. The Opposition to the Writs of Assistance. 
10. The Opposition to the Stamp Act in America. 11. British Opposi- 
tion to the Stamp Act. 12. The Climax of the Empire : Pitt's Ministry. 



THIRD PERIOD (1766-1815) 

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A WESTERN 
POWER ' 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE GEORGIAN TYRANNY 

247. The Townshend Duties. The politician who now took 
charge of American affairs was Charles Townshend. Under 
his lead, in 1767 the " Townshend duties," as we now call 
them, were imposed upon America. They taxed glass, paper, 

^ It is frequently asked : at what date did the American Revolution begin ? 
Many people will fix the date at the peace of Paris ; others, at the assumption 
of power by Grenville. One of the ablest of recent books on the subject, the 
"Syllabus of Colonial History," by Root and Ames, begins the Revolutionary 
period with 1748 and the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. But there are strong ob- 
jections to all these dates. In a sense no one date can be taken to mark the 
beginning of the movement. Truly considered it began as soon as the English 
in America raised the question of their right to govern themselves. The clash 
between Massachusetts and the king, in 1634, might thus be taken as the initial 
event quite as plausibly as any of these others. Great harm has been done in 
the past through conceiving the mov-ement as the fruit of a few years of agita- 
tion shortly preceding the actual breach. Especially harmful has been the 
failure to allow for the part played by William III and his despotic reorganiza- 
tion of the empire in 1696. Following that catastrophe there ensued the slow 
but irresistibly fateful accumulation of differences that paved the way for dis- 
ruption. Except for the whole history of the first half of the eighteenth century, 
both in England and the colonies, the Seven Years' War should have cemented 
the empire; and had the genius of Pitt been given full scope such reunion, in 
spite of all that had gone before, might have been accomplished. Until Pitt's 
breakdown it was not possible to say whether the results of the war were to be 
conservative of the empire or destructive. Therefore, it is not fanciful to hold 
that the line between the wholly imperial part of our history and the part 
which is distinctly Revolutionary, once we leave 1634 behind us, cannot log- 
ically be laid down until we reach 1766. 

168 



THE GEORGIAN TYRANNY 169 

painter's colors, lead, and tea. But this was not the worst. 
Another act of Parhament rudely asserted the supremacy of 
England over the colonies. The New York Assembly had 
refused to meet the demands of British officers who sought 
to put into effect Grenville's Quartering Act (section 239). 
Parliament now declared the action of the Assembly to be 
null. 

248. Lord North. On the death of Townshend, his work 
was taken up by Lord North who served George III as chan- 
cellor of the exchequer. Dviring all the troublous times that 
followed, until 1781, North was the chief man in England under 
the king. Personally he was good and kind. He disapproved 
of much, perhaps most, of the king's action, but his Tory 
principles compelled him to side with his sovereign even when 
he believed him to be in the wrong. To-day Americans can 
afford to see the pathos of his situation and forget his weakness. 
The blame for all that follows should be placed upon the ob- 
stinate tyrant who stood behind his minister and strove for 
the restoration of absolutism. 

249. Beginnings of Resistance. Colonial protests against 
the Townshend duties made no impression on the king, 
although the " Letters of a Farmer," written by John Dickin- 
son of Pennsylvania, contained this significant sentence, 
"English history affords examples of resistance by force." 
There were other signs that a revolution was on the way. 
Massachusetts sent out a circular letter urging all the colonies 
to protest against the duties as unconstitutional. Leading 
Virginians formed an association and pledged themselves not 
to import British goods until the duties were repealed. The 
king retaliated by ordering the colonial governors, in 1768, 
to dissolve their Assemblies if the latter showed signs of pro- 
testing. Troops were sent over to Boston.^ It was even 
proposed in England to have American agitators arrested 
and taken across the ocean for trial. 

1 They arrived in 1768, and remained until driven out by Washington, nine 
years later. 



I70 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



250. Turmoil in America. Riots took place in the discon- 
tented colonies. At Boston revenue officers were mobbed 
while attempting to seize a sloop, the Liberty, belonging to 
John Hancock (1768). A much worse affair was the so-called 
" Boston Massacre," a street fight, March 5, 1770, between a 
squad of soldiers and the Boston populace. The soldiers fired 
without orders, killing several citizens. It had really no 
pohtical significance, but in the excited state of the popular 
imagination it became a battle against the tyrants. That the 
Americans were in a state of general unrest was evinced by an 
insurrection in North Carolina. The royal governor, WiUiam 
Tryon, had trouble with bands of men known as " regulators," 
who were dissatisfied with his method of administering justice, 
and who charged him with extortion and inefficiency. In 
1 77 1, in the battle of the Alamance, they resisted the royal 
forces, but were defeated. Seven prisoners, taken by the 
troops, were hanged. Like the Boston Massacre, the battle 
of the Alamance was significant only indirectly. Both events 
contributed to make royal authority hateful. 

251. The Tea Duty. However, the Townshend Act failed 
financially. The duties collected amounted only to some 
sixteen thousand pounds and the cost of collection to two 
hundred thousand pounds. Even the British Tories saw 
that this would not do. In 1 770 most of the duties were given 
up. But the king and his friends had no mind to give up the 
Tory principle of arbitrary taxation, and in order to maintain 
it, they kept in force a trifling duty on tea. 

252. Committees of Correspondence. The Americans were 
now in a dangerous mood, as was shown in 1772, when a rev- 
enue vessel, the Gas pee, was burned by a Rhode Island mob, 
and the lawyers of the crown could find no witnesses who 
would admit having seen the burning. In the Boston town 
meeting Samuel Adams moved to appoint a " Committee of 
Correspondence " to inform other places what was being done 
in Boston and to receive similar reports of what was being 
done elsewhere. This action has sometimes been considered 



THE GEORGIAN TYRANNY 171 

the first step in the disruption of the empire, and Samuel 
Adams has been called " the Father of the American Revolu- 
tion." Although liis action was, perhaps, not quite so im- 
portant as these terms would imply, it was far-reaching. 
Virginia soon afterward took the lead in establishing an 
" Intercolonial Committee of Correspondence." By means 
of these committees news of whatever was done anywhere 
was quickly circulated everywhere. Thus, all the agitators 
throughout all the colonies were brought into a political organ- 
ization. These men, with good reason, called themselves 
Whigs. Their opponents — all those who for any reason 
upheld the views of the king's friends in England — were 
properly named Tories. Thus the two historic parties of 
England were extended across the Atlantic. 

253. Boston Tea Party. Just as the American Whigs be- 
came organized, the British Tories made a great blunder. To 
assist the British East India Company, which was in financial 
straits, Parliament gave the company special privileges with 
regard to tea. Up to this time tea had been supplied to the 
Americans chiefly by smugglers. Now, with the help of the 
home government, the East India Company would be able 
to sell tea so cheap that the smugglers would be undersold. 
In 1773, counting on a great profit, the India Company sent 
ships laden with tea to American ports. But they had not 
reckoned with the principles of the Americans. If the tea 
were landed and the duty paid (section 251), the principle of 
arbitrary taxation would be admitted. The American Whigs 
were interested in a principle, not in the price of the tea.^ 
At some American cities, the tea ships were forbidden to dock 
and forced to sail away without unloading. In South Caro- 
lina the tea was seized by the local authorities and eventually 
confiscated. The course followed at Boston was more pictur- 
esque. While a meeting of protest was in session at the Old 
South Church (December 16, 1773), a war whoop sounded 

^ Compare the issue of the tea duty with the issue of ship money. See section 
235, note. 



.TERR I T 
HDD SO 




EASTERN NORTH AMERICA JUST PREVIOUS TO THE RE\OLUTION 

172 



THE GEORGIAN TYRANNY 173 

from the street without. What appeared to be a band of 
Indians rushed past. The tea ships, lying at the town wharves, 
were boarded a few moments later by two hundred of these 
" Indians." Needless to say the pretended Indians were 
citizens in disguise, who rifled the ships and threw into the 
harbor a quantity of tea valued at eighteen thousand pounds. 
254. The Intolerable Acts. To the king's friends ^ the 
" Boston Tea Party," as it was jocularly called, appeared 
rank treason. They passed through Parliament certain 
measures known in America ever since as the " Intolerable 
Acts." The introduction of these acts was the signal for a 
great revival of Whig spirit in Parliament. All the op- 
ponents of absolutism rallied against the government, but 
the king's friends were too strong for them. Partly by skillful 
pohtical management, partly by appeahng to British pride 
not to yield to " rebels," partly by downright bribery, George 
III for the moment had Parliament under his thumb. The 
most important provisions of the Intolerable Acts were these : 

1. The port of Boston was closed and Salem was designated 
as the temporary seat of government. 

2. The charter of Massachusetts was altered so as to reduce 
the power of the people and to restrict town meetings. 

3. All persons accused of unlawful acts in executing the 
king's will might be tried outside the colony where the ofTense 
was supposed to have been committed. (This was intended, 
of course, to prevent local courts from interfering with the 
course of despotism by bringing its agents to trial for violating 
local laws.) 

4. To prevent a union between the EngHsh Protestants of 

1 The new Toryism of that day centered about a group of poUticians known 
as "the king's friends." The description of this group by Macaulay has be- 
come classic: "Thus sprang into existence and into note a reptile species of 
politicians never before and never since known in this country. These men dis- 
claimed all political ties except those which bound them to the throne. They 
were willing to coalesce with any party, to abandon any party, to undermine 
any party, to assault any party, at a moment's notice. . . . They were the 
King's friends." 



174 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



America and the French CathoHcs, the province of Quebec was 
extended southward to the Ohio River, and the Roman 
CathoHc Church practically estabUshed throughout that vast 
area. 

255. First Continental Congress. When the king ap- 
pealed to force he did the one thing needful to consolidate 
the American Whig party and enable it to control the colonics. 
From Virginia through all the colonies was passed the sugges- 
tion to repeat the Stamp Act Congress on a larger scale. 

The House of Representa- 
tives of Massachusetts in- 
dorsed the scheme. That 
was its last official act 
(June 17, 1774), for Gen- 
eral Gage, the British mili- 
tary commander at Boston, 
immediately overturned 
the colonial government 
and set up arbitrary rule. 
But he could not head off 
the movement for a con- 
gress. Other colonies fol- 
lowed the lead of Virginia 




itot 



iJL^j, 




INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA 



and Massachusetts. On September 5, 1774, the First Conti- 
nental Congress met in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia.^ 

256. American Rights. This Congress was the organiza- 
tion of a party, not of a nation. Perhaps it can best be under- 
stood by comparing it to a modern poHtical convention 
framing a platform. No action of the Congress showed dis- 
respect to the king. In loyal and dignified addresses, the 
grievances of the Americans were set forth, and the king was 
besought to remove their cause. At the same time, a Declara- 
tion of Rights was made. The Congress claimed for Ameri- 
cans all the rights of free-born British subjects, including 
the " Right of Representation ... in all cases of Taxation 

1 The Second Congress met in the State House, now called Independence Ilall. 



THE GEORGIAN TYRANNY 



175 



and Internal Policy subject only to the negative of their 
sovereign." Here was the old contention which Americans 
had advanced more than a hundred years before. Each colony 
must be regarded as a free state of the empire ; it must not 
be treated any longer as a dependent of the premier state 
England. As to the acts of the Parliament of the premier 
state by which this present trouble had been caused, the Con- 
gress pronounced them ''infringements and violations of the 
rights of the colonies." Finally, Congress organized an 
association pledged not to buy or sell any British goods. 




THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON 
From a drawing by an eyewitness. 

257. Parties in America. The winter of 17 74-1 7 75 was a 
dark time in America. Everywhere the feeling between the 
two parties had become intense, and the Whigs, unfortunately, 
did not always behave with moderation. Prominent Tories 
were mobbed ; Whig politicians formed themselves into " Com- 
mittees of Safety" ; militia companies, known as " minute- 
men," declared themselves ready to fight at a minute's notice; 
their political enemies were terrorized into silence and inaction. 

258. Battle of Lexington. A crisis was reached in the 
spring of 1775. The Boston Whigs, watching closely every 
movement of General Gage, discovered that he had ordered 



176 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



a detachment of troops to march to Lexington, where were 
John Hancock and Samuel Adams, the chief organizers of 
discontent. On the night of April 18, Paul Revere galloped 
across country rousing the minutemen. Adams and Han- 
cock, being warned in time, made their escape. On the 
morning of the nineteenth, when six companies of British 
soldiers entered Lexington, they found the place swarming 
with minutemen. It is not known which side fired first, but 
the soldiers charged the minutemen and drove them from the 
field after killing eight and wounding ten. Such was the 
" battle " of Lexington, a small thing in itself, but immeasur- 
ably great in its consequences. 

259. Concord. Not finding the men they wanted, the sol- 
diers marched seven miles to Concord. They meant to de- 
stroy a supply of powder and arms collected there. But the 
minutemen, now assembled in force, held a small bridge across 
which the British strove in vain to advance. The lire of the 

minutemen was too 
deadly. At length 
the attempt was 
abandoned a,nd the 
retreat to Boston 
begun. This was 
the worst part of 
the action for the 
invaders. All along 
the roads, from be- 
hind fences and 
walls, minutemen 
riddled the column 
with destructive fire. It was a sadly demoralized force that 
returned exhausted to take refuge in Boston at the day's end. 
The British had lost two hundred and seventy-three of 
their number ; the Americans, ninety-three. 

260. The Rising of the Whigs. The month of May, 1775, 
is as momentous as any single month in American history. 




THE SIEGE OF BOSTON 



THE GEORGIAN TYRANNY 177 

Ever3rwhere the news of Lexington and Concord roused the 
Whigs to fury. Popular tumults occurred. Tories were 
abused with bitterness that knew no bounds. New militia 
companies were- organized and numbers of them set out for 
Boston, which was soon encompassed by militia camps. On 
the tenth of the month Ethan Allen led a small force against 
the great British fortress of Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain. 
It was taken by surprise and surrendered. The same day a 
second Continental Congress met at Philadelphia. 

261. Second Continental Congress. This Congress was 
even more completely a Whig convention than its predecessor. 
The members were burning with indignation because of 
Lexington. But still there was no talk of disruption of the 
empire. Civil war — the sort of struggle undertaken by 
England's Parliament against Charles I — was what the 
American Whigs proposed.^ The Congress at once set about 
organizing an army and appointed as commander in chief, 
George Washington. 

262. Civil War in the British Empire. We must bear in 
mind that what immediately followed was a civil war between 
Whigs and Tories. From May, 1775, to July, 1776, the 
British empire was distracted by a fierce contention between 
two great parties holding different principles of government. 
In the eastern states of the empire, the contention did not 
produce actual fighting, but there, the British Whigs vehe- 
mently supported the American wing of their party.^ They 
maintained that the principle of free government was what 
made the British empire worth while. Without that prin- 
ciple there was no good in being an Englishman. They would 
go any length — break up the empire, if necessary — before 

^ See section 235, note. 

2 It was to avert such a war that Burke made his great speech on conciliation 
with the colonies, March 22, 1775. The American party in Parliament is fully 
discussed by Trevelyan "The American Revolution" (see index). Lecky 
forms a tonic counterweight to Trevelyan because, though perfectly candid, he 
is no flatterer and puts the case against us as effectively as justice will permit. 
See "History of England," III. 



178 AMERICAN HISTORY 

they would give up that principle. They had no fear for the 
future of England so long as she was free. They felt that all 
was lost, no matter how extensive her empire, if freedom was 
destroyed. Consequently, while American Whigs organized 
an army and made war on the king's troops, British Whigs 
enthusiastically applauded. On both sides of the water the 
Tories gave their hearty support to a last stand in favor of 
despotic government. 

263. Bunker Hill. Before the Whig commander in chief 
could reach Boston, the mihtia surrounding the city deter- 
mined to concentrate on high ground back of Charlestown. 
This resulted in the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17. To drive 
the militia from their entrenchments, Gage sent against them 
three thousand regulars. Though the Americans, commanded 
by Israel Putnam, Wilham Prescott, and Joseph Warren, 
twice repulsed the regulars, a third assault, when the Ameri- 
can ammunition was beginning to run short, was successful. 
Warren was killed and the Americans were driven from their 
position. The victory cost the regulars a third of their 
number. 

264. Washington in Command. On July 3 the Whig army 
paraded on the common in Cambridge, where Washington 
reviewed them and took formal command. Tradition points 
out a great elm on the edge of the common as the general's 
station during the review. The Whig Hues were now drawn 
close around Boston and a regular siege was begun. 

265. The American Petition. Still the Whigs, east and 
west, clung to the idea that the king would yield, reforms would 
be granted, and the empire saved from disruption. On July 
8, 1775, Congress sent a petition to the king. It was the last 
attempt of the American Whigs to keep from being forced 
into separation from England. The attempt was futile. 
After reaching London, the bearers of the petition were kept 
waiting a week before the secretary for the colonies would con- 
sent to examine it, and while they begged in vain for a hearing, 
the king issued a royal proclamation of rebclhon, August 22,, 



THE GEORGIAN TYRANNY 179 

branding all Americans then in arms as traitors. Early in 
September the king formally refused to consider the American 
petition. 

266. First Step toward Separation. Even before the king's 
refusal some Americans had begun to think of separation, but 
until the autumn of 1775 they had very little influence. Even 
then, in spite of the resentment felt over the king's action, 
these men had still to labor to make converts. Patrick Henry 
of Virginia, Christopher Gadsden of South Carolina, Samuel 
Adams of Massachusetts, were the leaders of the Separatists. 
They now found a powerful ally in Thomas Paine, an English 
reformer, who had recently come over to America. In January, 
1776, appeared Paine's pamphlet entitled " Common Sense." 
It was a fiery argument for separation. A hundred thousand 
copies are said to have been sold. 

267. Shortsighted Toryism. Events which occurred in the 
early part of 1776 greatly stimulated the feeling for separation. 
One of these was the burning of Norfolk, Virginia, by the 
royal governor, Lord Dunmore, in revenge for a Whig uprising. 
No words can measure the rage inspired by his action through- 
out America. About the same time the king informed Parlia- 
ment that he had hired Hessian troops for service in subduing 
the American " rebels." Few communications have ever 
made such a commotion in Parliament. In the House of 
Lords the Duke of Richmond moved to countermand the 
order for Hessian troops and to suspend hostilities in America. 
The Duke of Grafton assured the House he had always been 
opposed to the coercion of the Americans. " I perceive in 
it," said he, " nothing but inevitable ruin." Great lords and 
noted members of the Commons protested in vain. With the 
solid Tory majority nothing counted but the king's will. The 
employment of Hessians was approved in the House of Lords 
by a vote of 79 to 29 ; in the House of Commons, by 242 to 88. 

268. Progress of the War. Meanwhile in America the 
war went forward with varying fortunes. The Whigs con- 
ceived a plan for conquering Canada. Benedict Arnold and 



l8o AMERICAN HISTORY 

Richard Montgomery led forth small but eager armies that 
bore great hardships and made unsuccessful attacks upon 
the forces at Quebec. The Canadians, then and throughout 
the war, refused to take part in the revolutionary movement. 
In North Carolina, on the other hand, a battle between the 
Whigs and Tories at Moore's Creek, February 27, 1776, was 
a Whig victory. It was soon followed by a brilliant exploit 
at Boston. Washington seized Dorchester Heights and 
had the British general, Howe,^ at his mercy. On March 17 
Howe, with his army of ten thousand men, and more than a 
thousand Tories, went aboard his ships and sailed for Halifax. 

269. Naval Demonstration in the South. By means of his 
great navy, the king was able to strike the Americans at far- 
distant points, and the royal commanders now attempted to 
make use of this great advantage they had at sea. While the 
Whig army was still concentrated in New England, the British 
made a naval attack far to the south. A royal squadron 
advanced against Charleston, June 28, 1776. However, the 
channel into Charleston harbor was swept by the guns of 
Fort Sullivan, which Colonel Moultrie commanded. The lire 
of the fort was so destructive that at length the British gave 
up the attempt to run past it and sailed away. It was in 
this action that Sergeant Jasper leapt over the parapet of 
Fort Sullivan, in the face of the English fire, and recovered 
the flag of South Carolina, which had fallen outward, the flag- 
staff having been shot in two. 

270. Separation. By this time the American Whigs had 
pretty generally accepted the extreme views of the Separatists. 
On May 15 John Adams, a cousin of Samuel Adams, had 
moved in Congress that all British authority in the colonies 
should be abolished. The motion was carried. Virginia 
had sent instructions to Richard Henry Lee, under which on 
June 7 he had introduced a resolution for independence. The 
question was postponed until the various delegates could write 
home for instructions as to how to vote, and the wisdom of this 

' He succeeded Gage in October, 1775. 



THE GEORGIAN TYRANNY i8i 

delay was expressed by Franklin in his witty remark, " We 
must all hang together or we shall all hang separately." 

271. New Attitude of the Whigs. In this dry laughter of 
Franklin we see what American Whigs had come to believe 
with regard to the king. They had all practically accepted 
the views of Patrick Henry, expressed some time before in a 
famous speech that closed thus, " I know not what course 
others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me 
death." The greatest British Whig, Chatham, did justice 
to the situation when he said, protesting against the prosecu- 
tion of the war, " Were I an American, as I am an English- 
man, while a foreign troop landed in my country, I would 
never lay down my arms — • never, never." 

272. The Declaration of Independence. While the dele- 
gates to the Congress were securing their instructions, a com- 
mittee of five drew up a declaration of independence.^ The 
five were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, 
Robert R. Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson. To Jefferson, 
then a brilliant young lawyer, was assigned the difficlilt task 
of phrasing the document. As a student of English law and 
English history, Jefferson sought to state broadly those basal 
principles of English freedom on which the Whigs grounded 
their case. To these he added several speculative doctrines 
generally accepted in America. The result of this blending of 
philosophy with Enghsh political tradition was the famous 
document which we know. Incorporated in it was a list of 
twenty-seven grievances which led up to the bold words, 
" these united colonies are, and of right ought to be. Free and 
Independent States." 

On June 28, Jefferson's draft of the Declaration was sub- 

1 Declarations had previously been drawn up in various places. The most 
noted is a set of resolutions passed by the citizens of Mecklenburg County, North 
Carolina, declaring that all commissions "heretofore granted by the Crown, to 
be exercised in these colonies, are null and void and the constitution of each 
particular colony wholly suspended" (May 31, 1775). The tradition of a still 
earlier "Mecklenburg declaration" (May 20, 1775) has caused long and heated 
debate. 



1 82 AMERICAN HISTORY 

mitted to Congress. Its phraseology was debated for several 
days and slight changes were made. On July 2, the delegates 
generally having received their instructions, debate on Lee's 
resolution was resumed. The Declaration was adopted, and 
the independence of the United States proclaimed, July 4, 
1776. 

Selections from the Sources. Macdonald, Source Book, Nos. 37-50, 
Charters, 317-391; Ford, Journals of the Continental Congress, I; II, 
13-23, 128-157, 224-234; IV, 142-143; V, 491-516; VI, 1087-1098; 
Burke, Speeches on America (Everyman's Library), 76-144, 259-262; 
Hart, Contemporaries, II, Nos. 24, 145-169, 184-192; Hansard, Parlia- 
mentary History, XV, XVI; Ford, Writings of John Dickinson; 
HuTCraNSON, Diary and Letters of Thomas Hutchinson. 

Secondary Accounts. Lecky, History of England, III, 1-25, 290- 
499; American Revolution (Woodburn edition) , 105-179, 194-244; Fiske, 
The American Revolution, I, 28-197; Bancroft, History (last revision), 

III, 245-295, 319-337, 368-378, 404-416, 443-458, 466-482; IV, 55-92, 

167-184, 265-279, 310-346, 382-391, 412-452; Trevelyan, The Ameri- 
can Revolution, Pt. i, 100-209, 274-311; Pt. 2, I, 105-171 ; II, chap, 
xvi; Channing, History, III; Fisher, Struggle for Independence, I, 
18-36, 112-145, 164-190, 206-214, 221-333, 372-387, 463-456; Sabine, 
Loyalists of the American Revolution, I, 58-87; Tyler, Literary History 
of the American Revolution, I, 229-245, 267-279, 316-384, 475-519 ; Bas- 
SETT, Regulators in North Carolina; Becker, Political Parties in New 
York, lydo-iy^d, chap, i ; Collins, Committees of Correspondence, 
Cambridge Modern History, VII, 175-208; Frothingham, Rise of the 
Republic, 158-358. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. George III and the New Toryism. 2. 
John Dickinson. 3. The Regulators. 4. Resistance in New England. 
5. Composition of the First Continental Congress. 6. The American 
Theory of the Empire. 7. The British Theory of the Empire. 8. 
Beginnings of the Movement for Separation. 9. The King's Friends 
and their Policy. 10. The American Party in Parliament. 11. Thomas 
Paine. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE WAR OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 

I. THE BRITISH INVASION 

273. The Battle of Long Island. While the Continental 
Congress was reluctantly deciding upon separation from the 
empire, Howe, at Halifax (section 268), was preparing to re- 
sume the war. In August, 1776, with a fleet and army, he 
proceeded against New York, and a landing on Long Island 
was speedily effected by no less than twenty thousand British 
troops. To meet this strong force, Washington, who had moved 
his headquarters from Boston to New York, also led his army 
into Long Island. Thus was brought on the first pitched 
battle of the Revolutionary War. The Americans, who as 
yet were little more than a crowd of militia, opposed superior 
numbers and were badly beaten. Washington retreated to 
the mainland, and drew back his army toward Harlem. 

Howe followed him, crossing the East River and landing at 
Kips Bay (34th Street), where he routed an American force 
under General Putnam who, having been unable to check the 
British, retreated toward Harlem to join Washington. Though 
the main body of the British encamped on Murray Hill,^ 
then in the northern outskirts of the city, a portion of their 
army turned southward into the city proper, which was occu- 
pied September 15, 1776. Very soon a line of British entrench- 

' While Howe, in pursuit of Putnam, was marching across Manhattan Island, 
he passed near the mansion of Mrs. Lindley Murray on Murray Hill. Mrs. 
Murray sent a servant to the general with an invitation to take luncheon with 
her. Together with several of his officers, Howe accepted. The charming 
hostess and her fine old Madeira wine delayed the officers two hours. In that 
time Putnam and his army escaped. 

183 



1 84 AMERICAN HISTORY 

ments extended across the island from Haven's Hook on East 
River to Bloomingdale on the Hudson.^ 

274. The Battles about New York. The struggle to possess 
New York was a dreary one for the Americans, but it had a 
single moment of brilliant promise. Thinking to make short 
work of the campaign, Howe pushed northward a column 
which Washington met and repulsed in the battle of Harlem 
Heights near where Columbia University now stands. How- 
ever, Washington's next move was a mistake. He had not 
yet learned his own capacity, and he listened to bad advice. 
Congress urged him to hold his ground, and General Greene 
insisted that a fortification at the north end of Manhattan 
Island, Fort Washington, should be held at all costs. Though 
Washington thought it should be abandoned and a new line 
of defense formed farther north, he let Greene have his way, 
and some three thousand men were left in Fort Washington, 
while the remainder of the force was withdrawn north of the 
Bronx and concentrated at White Plains. Howe promptly 
interposed his army between Fort Washington and White 
Plains. At the latter place he attacked Washington with 
sufficient success to force him to retreat still farther north- 
ward from Fort Washington. Then, wheeling southward, 
Howe attacked the fort, took it by storm, and captured the 
entire garrison on November i6. 

The loss of Fort Washington was a salutary lesson to the 
commander in chief. From that time forward he trusted his 
own judgment. 

Lord Cornwallis was now sent across the Hudson to take 
Fort Lee, which was opposite the captured Fort Washington. 
On November 20 he made a brilliant success of the attempt. 

275. The Retreat through New Jersey. Between death and 

' Washington called for volunteers to spy out the British camp, and Nathan 
Hale of Connecticut undertook the perilous mission. He was detected inside 
the British lines by a Tory kinsman, arrested, and condemned to death. His 
execution took place in the orchard of Colonel Henry Rutgers near the present 
junction of Market Street and East Broadway. His last words were "I regret 
that I have but one life to lose for my country." 



THE WAR OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 185 

capture, followed up, alas ! by desertion, Washington's army 
had now shrunk to ten or twelve thousand men. Opposed 
to him were well-organized soldiers flushed with success and 
numbering between twenty and thirty thousand. And at 
that very moment one of Washington's leading generals 
was intriguing against him. This was Charles Lee. A few 
days later he put his commander in a still more desperate 
position by disobeying orders. 

A part of the American army had been moved across the 
Hudson and was encamped at the village of Hackensack 
under the immediate command of Washington. The larger 
part of the army — some seven thousand men — under Lee 
was still east of the river. Cornwallis at Fort Lee was already 
across the river. The day following the capture of Fort Lee, 
Washington ordered General Lee to cross the Hudson and come 
at once to his assistance. Lee, however, acted as if no such 
orders had been received. He remained in liis camp, east of 
the river, doing nothing. Washington with but a few thou- 
sand men fell back before Cornwallis and waited for Lee at 
Newark. A week passed. Then came to Washington the 
startling news that Howe had moved a strong force by water 
to South Amboy in New Jersey. If Washington remained 
where he was, Cornwallis might attack him from Fort Lee in 
the front, while Howe; from South Amboy, might assault his 
lines in the rear. And their combined forces would enor- 
mously outnumber his own. Sending fresh orders to Lee to 
hurry to his assistance, Washington evacuated Newark. As 
his rear guard left the town on the west, the advance guard of 
Cornwallis entered it on the east. On December i Washington 
wrote to Lee saying that he had no doubt that Howe intended 
to march to Philadelphia, where Congress was then in session. 
" The force I have with me," wrote Washington, " is infinitely 
inferior in numbers and such as cannot give, or promise, the 
least successful opposition. I must entreat you to hasten 
your march as much as possible, or your arrival may be too 
late to answer any valuable purpose." Lee did not dare to 



1 86 AMERICAN HISTORY 

remain longer in his camp. He crossed the Hudson and began 
moving westward, but he made his advance as slow as possible. 
While Washington, with Cornwallis at his heels, marched 
twenty miles a day, Lee marched live or six. Plainly he meant 
to let the commander in chief be destroyed. 

Washington had a narrow escape. On the eighth of Decem- 
ber, the rear guard of the American army looked back at the 
advance guard of the British army with only the Delaware 
River between. The Americans had just then crossed the 
river and had taken or sunk every boat to be had. Wash- 
ington had with him that day less than three thousand 
men. 

276. Sullivan to the Rescue. Meanwhile, far away on 
the borders of Canada, a British army had been repulsed. A 
considerable body of American troops, which hitherto had 
been compelled to remain in the vicinity of Lake Champlain 
and Albany, were thus set at liberty. To them, as well as 
to Lee, Washington had sent urgent appeals for immediate 
assistance, and General Schuyler, commanding at Albany, had 
sent off reenforcements under General Sullivan within an 
hour after receiving Washington's dispatch. But as Sullivan 
was hurrying south, he came in contact with the army of Lee, 
who was his superior i-n command. Lee immediately ordered 
Sullivan to join his own column and move forward only as he 
directed. Sullivan had no choice but to obey. Lee con- 
tinued to creep along at a snail's pace. Suddenly, on the 
thirteenth of December, in the twinkling of an eye, every- 
thing changed. Lee, lagging apart from his army, had passed 
the night at a tavern some three miles from the main column. 
There, early in the morning, he was surprised by a small party 
of British scouts, captured, and carried off. To the Americans 
it was almost like an interposition from heaven, for through 
this accident the command of the entire column devolved 
upon Sullivan. Instantly he began a forced march for the 
Delaware, which he crossed in the midst of a blinding snow- 
storm only two days later. 



THE WAR OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 187 

277. Washington as Dictator. The desperate nature of 
the situation was appreciated by Thomas Paine, who was 
then serving as a soldier in Washington's army. During the 
brief halts on the retreat across New Jersey, Paine wrote a 
patriotic pamphlet which he aptly called "The Crisis," " These 
are the times," he wrote, " that try men's souls. The summer 
soldier and the sunshine patriot will in this crisis shrink from 
the service of his country, but," he continued, speaking of 
Washington, " there is a natural firmness in some minds 
that cannot be unlocked by trifles. I reckon it among pubHc 





TIN DOLLAR OF 1776 

blessings that God hath . . . given him a mind that can flourish 
upon care." The words were well deserved, and they were 
destined, immediately and splendidly, to be justified. Congress 
at this moment of crisis threw upon Washington the whole 
responsibility for the war by investing him with authority 
to conduct it as he saw fit. For itself, it sought safety in flight 
and withdrew from Philadelphia to Baltimore. 

Though (^^ongress gave Washington absolute power, it 
could give him at that moment no actual aid, and in his 
desperate situation there was imperative necessity to contrive 
in some way to shame " the summer soldier and the sun- 
shine patriot." Almost all the soldiers had enhsted for but 
short periods, and practically all of them proposed to leave 
the army the instant their terms expired. They were deeply 
disheartened by the retreat. They had not yet learned to 



1 88 AMERICAN HISTORY 

trust their great leader, and were bitter against Congress for 
not having paid them. But Congress had no money. Though 
it had issued miUions of paper dollars, people refused to 
accept them. Except for a loan of a million francs, secretly 
obtained in France by Silas Deane, there was scarcely any good 
money at the disposal of Congress during 1776. The winter 
had set in with extreme severity, and the American troops 
were ragged, ill-fed, and overworked. Their nerves were 
giving way. And Howe was shrewd enough, at this moment 
of demoralization, to issue a proclamation offering full pardon 
to all who would lay down their arms within sixty days and 
take an oath of allegiance to the king. No wonder Washing- 
ton wrote to the president of Congress that unless something 
was done at once to change the mood of the soldiers, he had 
" not the most distant prospect of retaining them a moment 
longer than the last of this month " (December, 1776). 

At that supreme moment everything hung upon the courage 
and the genius of the mihtary dictator, George Washington. 
He was equal to the situation. He saw that whatever else 
he did, he must capture the imagination of his men. They 
must somehow be given confidence in themselves, confidence 
in their cause. In spite of the feebleness of his army, he re- 
solved to turn about and recross the Delaware. As he him- 
self put it, " Necessity, dire necessity, will, nay must, justify 
an attack." At the same time he wrote to one of the ablest 
of the Whig leaders, Robert Morris, imploring him to make 
every effort to raise money. The Christmas Day of 1776 was 
perhaps the darkest day of the war. 

278. The Battle of Trenton. But it was the darkness that 
comes before dawn. Howe had made the fatal mistake of 
supposing that the Revolution was crushed. He resolved to 
rest his army, wait for the American forces to melt away, and 
finish the business at his leisure. Disposing his army in a 
chain of posts extending from Trenton to the sea, Howe 
himself, with Cornwallis, returned to New York, leaving a 
Hessian, Colonel Rahl, in command at Trenton. 



THE WAR OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 189 

On Christmas night, with only two thousand four hundred 
men and eighteen cannon, Washington recrossed the Delaware, 
nine miles above Trenton. In the early morning of the 
twenty-sixth, Rahl and his Hessians were attacked. Washing- 
ton gained a brilliant victory. Practically the entire force 
of the enemy was either killed or taken prisoner. 

279. The Results of Trenton. The effect of the battle was 
magical. It opened the eyes of the Americans to the greatness 
of the man who led them. In all parts of America new hope 



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WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE • 

sprang up. The soldiers at the front, the Assemblies at home, 
promised to keep up the fight. Robert Morris raised funds by 
sheer begging, and together with Washington and other Whig 
leaders borrowed money, pledging their estates as security, 
in case Congress could not pay. 

280. Washington cuts the British Line. Cornwallis, the 
real fighter on the British side, now hurried to the front. 
On the second of January he was on the march with eight 
thousand men from Princeton for Trenton. The situation 
of the two armies at nightfall on the second must be understood 
in order to appreciate Washington's next great stroke, the 
battle of Princeton. 



I90 AMERICAN HISTORY 

The British, stretched along Howe's chain of posts, still 
extended across New Jersey. There were strong detachments 
at various places along this line, notably at Brunswick, where 
great quantities of stores were collected, and at Princeton. 
Cornwallis with his eight thousand men had entered Trenton. 

Washington had posted his whole force, numbering about 
five thousand men, with forty cannon, behind a little stream 
on the south edge of Trenton. These lay south of the line of 
British posts, but they were not the only Americans under 
arms. Away to the northeast a considerable American 
force under General Heath lay in southern New York. There 
were other American forces in northern New York and in New 
England. We should observe that these lay north of the 
British line. 

Cornwallis thought he had Washington trapped. Another 
British column, some two thousand strong, encamped that 
night at Princeton, would reach Trenton the next day. Ten 
thousand British would then attack the five thousand Ameri- 
cans. But Cornwallis had not yet learned what sort of man 
he had to deal with. In the dead of night, with all the cannon 
wheels wrapped in strips of cloth, while every command was 
given in a whisper, the American army literally crept away 
to the east. Presently it wheeled northward. The intention 
of Washington was to cut his way through the British line and 
connect with the American forces north of it. Early in the 
morning he struck Princeton, where the British were as much 
surprised, wrote the American general, Knox, as if an army had 
fallen on them perpendicularly out of the clouds. Though 
they fought against great odds with fine courage, this brilliant 
action ended in their complete discomfiture. Washington 
kept on to Morristown (see map, p. 199). 

281. The Tables Turned. Never has the courage of one 
man been more swiftly and splendidly rewarded. The Rev- 
olutionary movement, which appeared in December to be at 
its last gasp, was in January again in a fair way to succeed. 
Cornwallis had retreated upon New York. 



THE WAR OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 191 

II. ENGLAND AND HER ENEMIES 

282. The Strength of the Combatants. The " great 
campaign," as it well deserves to be called, besides showing 
Europe that America had a master soldier, showed the Ameri- 
can Whigs that the difficulties of their cause were enormous. 
The United States contained about three million people, in- 
cluding slaves, and of these, at least twelve hundred thousand 
were outside the Whig party. How many of the remainder 
were genuine Whigs it was impossible to say.^ " I find no dis- 
position in the inhabitants to afford the least aid," Washington 
reported to Congress after his retreat across New Jersey. At 
New York the Tories were buoyant and eager. Even at 
Philadelphia, under the very nose of Congress, Tory influence 
was so strong that a garrison had to be maintained. In 
spite of all the efforts of Washington, Congress, and the state 
assemblies, it seemed impossible to get together fifteen thou- 
sand good troops. 

Opposed to the Whigs was the military establishment of a 
powerful empire. The population of Great Britain and Ire- 
land amounted to eleven millions, and though many of those 
people were bitterly opposed to George III, a class of great 
landowners dominated the country and controlled the elections 
to Parliament. In this class the king's supporters formed a 
majority. Through the support of this Tory - majority in 

^ At the time, John Adams said that a good third of the Americans were 
Tories. Some later students think he underestimated the Tory strength and 
believe that the Whigs were nev'er in a majority, that they carried their point 
not through numbers but because of the perfection of their political organization 
and because the Tories lacked good leaders. Perhaps the truth of the matter 
is between these two extremes. As the war went forward, the Tory party seems 
to have grown in strength. In 1775, out of thirty-seven newspapers in America, 
seven or eight were Tory organs. It is asserted that at least five went over to 
the Tory side after war was declared. A number of Tory regiments were raised 
and several thousand Tories took service under the king's colors. See Van 
Tyne, "Loyalists," 1-164; Sabine, "LoyaUsts," I, 55-87. 

2 Tory should be understood here to cover all groups in the political alliance 
that had revived absolutism. 



192 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Parliament the king had at his command two hundred ships of 
war and three hundred thousand soldiers. 

283. Foreign Affairs. The logic of circumstances was 
unmistakable. The Americans must find alliances abroad. 
Such, indeed, had been the intention of their coolest heads 
all along. Deane, as we have seen (section 277), was already 
in France, and the French government had given aid in secret,^ 
but it still refused to recognize the United States as a nation. 
With Deane were now associated Franklin and Arthur Lee 
as commissioners to obtain a French alliance. 

Various forces powerfully aided them. The Whig influence 
had crossed the British Channel, and made converts for the 
principle of free government in despotic France. The 
influence of the great skeptical philosopher, Voltaire, and of 
a brilliant group of scientists, the authors of the French En- 
cyclopedia, told in the same direction. Furthermore, that 
fiery Democrat, Rousseau, boldly attacked all absolutist ideas. 
When the American Declaration appeared these various re- 
formers hailed it with delight, and when Frankhn arrived in 
France he was given an ovation. The greatest French ad- 
ministrator, Turgot, wrote a panegyric upon the great Ameri- 
can who had " torn the Hghtning from heaven, and the 
scepter from the tyrant's hand." Even the king and queen 
caught the republican infection. They posed as friends of 
America, disregarding the warnings of their shrewdest advisers, 
who saw that if the Americans succeeded there would be an end 
of absolutism throughout the world. 

There was a powerful force of a totally difi"erent sort also 
working for America and against Great Britain. It ema- 
nated from Berhn. Frederick the Great, who never for- 
gave the British Tories for their shameful desertion of him in 
1 761 (section 233), was bent on bringing about another general 
war through which he should get his revenge. Two other 
determined enemies of England, also watching for an oppor- 

' See Channing, "History," III, 282-284, for a compact but very interesting 
account of the secret aid given the Americans by France and Spain. 



THE WAR OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 193 

tunity to take revenge, were the Count of Vergennes, chief 
minister to Louis XVI, and Charles III, king of Spain. 
However, none of these were in a hurry to begin. Frederick 
wanted France to take the lead. Spain waited for France to 
decide. France hesitated ; even Vergennes moved cautiously, 
wishing to make sure of the strength of the Americans before 
committing himself. Unless the United States should prove 
a strong ally, he would not risk it. 

284. Secret Aid. All that Franklin could get during 1777 
was a continuance of secret aid. This was given rather 
freely both by France and Spain. Money, arms, even ships 
were placed at Franklin's disposal, but still there was no 
recognition of American independence. Vergennes, who was 
the center of the intrigue, refused to act until the Americans 
had struck some great blow without aid from Europe. 

285. The Turning Point. Through the summer of 1777 
Franklin watched America with anxious eyes, for it had become 
known that the British were designing a great movement 
southward from Canada. Plainly they meant to cut the 
states in two along the line of the Hudson River. General 
John Burgoyne was to advance south along Lake Champlain ; 
Colonel St. Leger, east along the valley of the Mohawk. 
Their junction point would be Albany. If they succeeded in 
meeting, they would, in connection with Howe, take control 
of the Hudson valley. On the success or failure of this 
movement the French alliance and the fate of America 
depended. 

Owing to the peculiar plans adopted by the British generals, 
two campaigns were now fought in America almost simul- 
taneously. Howe, instead of marching north to unite with 
Burgoyne, attempted a great flanking movement with a view 
to paralyzing the American defense by an attack on their 
capital. The fleet lying at New York enabled him to transport 
his army by sea to the head of Chesapeake Bay, and as Howe 
had foreseen, this movement of his made it out of the question 
for Washington to join the forces in front of Burgoyne. 



194 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



When the British came to land, Washington, having swiftly- 
crossed New Jersey, was already in position to contest their 
advance upon Philadelphia. However, though Howe had 
accompHshed his purpose, it is doubtful whether he had 
shown good generalship. At any rate, Burgoyne and St. 
Leger left to themselves did not prove equal to their under- 
taking. In central New 
York, St. Leger, whose ad- 
vance had been checked by 
Fort Stanwix,^ was defeated 
by General Herkimer in the 
furious battle of Oriskany, 
and soon after (August, 
1777) retreated to Canada. 
]\Ieanwhile a part of Bur- 
goyne 's forces had been de- 
feated by Vermont miHtia 
imdcr Stark at Bennington. 
Nevertheless, on the first of 
September, Burgoyne was 
still pushing forward. The 
forces in front of him now 
outnumbered his own, and 
though their commander. 
General Gates, was of small 
ability, he was supported by 
the genius of Benedict Ar- 
nold. That strange man, though lacking in principle, was an 
excellent general. He compelled Burgoyne to fight his way 
mile by mile. Presently Burgoyne came to a standstill. 




THE WAR IN NORTHERN NEW YORK 



' Here a new flag was displayed by the Americans. The flag hoisted by 
Washington at Boston, in 1775, was the "red ensign" of the British empire with 
its red field diversified by while stripes. The blue canton in the upper left 
corner still contained the double cross of St. George and St. Andrew. This 
later flag was removed a point farther from the red ensign. The white 
crosses were taken from the canton, and replaced by a circle of thirteen white 
stars. 




The " Red Ensign," which was the com- 
mercial flag of the British Empire in 1775, 
consisted of a red field, a blue canton, the 
red cross of St. George, and the white cross 
of St. Andrew. From this flag was derived 
the phrase " the red, white, and blue." 




The American Whigs, in 1775, laid six white 
stripes on the red field of the ensign, thus 
producing the thirteen stripes that repre- 
sent the colonies. The canton was re- 
tained to represent the empire. 




On June 14, 1777, Congress removed the 
crosses from the canton and replaced them 
by a circle of thirteen white stars. 




The addition of new states to the Union led 
to the present arrangement of stars, one 
for every state. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN FLAG 



196 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Two desperate battles in the neighborhood of Freeman's 
Farm were favorable to the Americans, and Burgoyne was 
cooped up in Saratoga. There he surrendered his whole 
army, October 17, 1777. 

286. The French Alliance. The autumn of 1777 may be 
considered the second crisis of the war. It was the good news 
of the triumph of Saratoga, received by Franklin early in 
December, that saved the day. The French ministry at once 
began negotiating an alliance with the Americans. 

287. Capture of Philadelphia. At the very moment, how- 
ever, when Franklin in Paris saw that the worst was over, 
his colleagues in America were plunged in misery. Howe's 
move upon Philadelphia had been wholly successful. In 
two severe battles, Brandywine (September 1 1) and German- 
town (October 4), he had shattered the forces under Washing- 
ton. Congress had fled from Philadelphia to York. " The 
rebel capital," as Howe called it, was occupied by the British, 
who went into winter quarters there, while Washington 
placed the wreck of his army at Valley Forge, only twenty-five 
miles distant. 

288. Valley Forge. While Franklin across the sea was nego- 
tiating the treaty of alliance, during December, 1777, and 
January, 1778, the soldiers of Washington were starving and 
freezing at Valley Forge. The lack of food and shelter during 
the bitterest part of the winter caused such intense suffering 
that Valley Forge is a synonym for hardship to this day. In 
this trying time all the half-hearted patriots deserted. Some 
three thousand are said to have slipped away and gone inside 
the British lines.^ The remainder, however, were hardened 
into veterans. Washington's genius saved his cause at Trenton ; 
his character saved it at Valley Forge. Steadfast against mis- 
fortune, he inspired his men with his own unconquerableness. 

1 Washington was also more than once embarrassed by the intrigues of 
generals with political ambitions. We have seen that Charles Lee had tried 
to foil his plans and so ruin his prestige (section 275). The so-called "Conway 
cabal" in 1778 was a contemptible plot to supplant Washington by Gates. 



THE WAR OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 197 

His influence was thus summed up by one of his officers : " See 
the poor soldier, if barefoot ... he labors through the cold and 
mud with a song in his mouth, extolling War and Washington. 
If his food be bad — he eats it notwithstanding with seeming 
content." 

289. Foreign Volunteers. Two distinguished Europeans 
shared the sufferings of the army at Valley Forge. These 
were the Marquis de Lafayette, and the Baron von Steuben. 
Lafayette, one of the most charming of Frenchmen, was a 
member of that group of liberal nobles who had gone over to 
republicanism. He had joined Washington's army as a 
volunteer shortly before the battle of Brandywine. A very 
different man was grim old Baron von Steuben, once a member 
of the staff of Frederick the Great. To him Washington en- 
trusted the severe task of instilling into the Americans a 
sense of discipline. All that dreary winter Steuben labored 
at his arduous, but at last successful, undertaking. In a way 
he was Washington's right-hand man. 

290. The Tory Folly. While the Americans were freezing 
at Valley Forge, the British officers in Philadelphia gave an 
entertainment that was probably one of the most brilliant 
ever given in America. At London the Tory majority showed 
an equal disdain of the seriousness of the moment. They 
adjourned Parliament and went home to enjoy Christmas on 
their estates. Chatham, who guessed what Franklin was 
doing at Paris and thought it was still possible to heal the 
breach with America, begged them to remain in session. But 
the Tories would have their Christmas gayeties come what 
might. Their selfish action, in the words of the historian 
Lecky, " left the country without a Parliament in the six 
critical weeks that followed the arrival of the news of the 
capitulation of Saratoga." In those six weeks the last hope of 
preserving the empire intact passed away. The negotiations 
at Paris brought the strictly American part of the war to 
an end. When Parliament reassembled, and Lord North, 
February 17, 1778, moved to make concessions to America, 



198 AMERICAN HISTORY 

it was too late.^ Ten days previous, France had recognized the 
" Republic of the United States." On March 13, 1778, the 
French ambassador at London formally notified the king 
of England that France was an ally of the Americans.^ The 
British ambassador was at once recalled from Paris, and Eng- 
land and France were at war. 



III. THE WORLD-WIDE WAR 

291. Paris becomes the Center. The war now became 
world-wide. The best way to understand it is to station 
oneself in imagination at Paris. There, in consultation, 
the American envoys and the French ministers watched and 
schemed while the conflict raged from America over all the 
seas, as far as distant India. 

292. Monmouth. A French fleet with an army commanded 
by the Count of Rochambcau was sent to America immedi- 
ately after the treaty was signed. Hearing of their approagh, 
Sir Henry Clinton, who had succeeded Howe, withdrew from 
Philadelphia and started across New Jersey toward New York. 
Thereupon, Washington with his small but now thoroughly 
seasoned force, planned to strike the British column at Mon- 
mouth, but there for the second time Charles Lee (section 
275) played him false. That secret traitor had been exchanged 
for a captured British ofificer and restored to his command. 
At Monmouth, June 28, 1778, he led the American advance, 
but in disobedience to Washington's orders halted his force 
at a critical moment and threw the whole army into confusion. 
Just in the nick of time Washington galloped forward, and in a 
terrible burst of rage ordered Lee to the rear. Then it was 
that Steuben's training told. For the first time Americans 
answered to command like European veterans. Swiftly re- 

^ A conciliatory commission was sent over by Lord North offering to grant 
almost anything the Americans asked if only they would abandon France and 
return into the empire. But Congress refused to consider his proposition. 

* The treaty of alliance had been signed February 6. 



THE WAR OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 



199 



organized by Washington, they attacked Clinton with great 
spirit, but the right moment had passed. Washington's plan 
of battle could not now be carried out ; and Clinton escaped 
to New York. Shortly afterward, for the second time, 
Washington fixed his headquarters at White Plains, and began 




WASHINGTON'S CAMPAIGNS, 1776-1778 

the long siege of New York. Monmouth was the last important 
battle of the Revolutionary War fought in the Northern states. 
293. The Year 1778. In that year, 1778, there were large 
enterprises in every quarter of the globe. The French and 
British navies entered upon a brilliant rivalry to control the 
seas. In American waters at first the French were masters 
of the situation. Nevertheless, a joint attack of French and 



200 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Americans on Newport/ where was a British garrison, was not 
successful and the arrival of naval reenforcements from Eng- 
land forced the French fleet to take shelter at Boston. The 
Americans had better success in the West. George Rogers 
Clark, with a force of Virginians, invaded the Ohio country 
and took the British fort of Kaskaskia on the Mississippi. 
On the other hand, Wyoming valley, in northeastern Pennsyl- 
vania, was raided by a mixed force of Tories and Indians from 
Canada, and its inhabitants massacred. Battles in the 
West Indies produced no substantial advantage either for 
France or for England. On the whole, this first year of the 
general war ended somewhat in England's favor. Her most 
brilhant success was in far-off Hindustan. There the French 
had had a long struggle to build up a subject empire as a 
rival to British India. In the autumn of 1778 almost all of it 
was conquered by the British. 

294. The Year 1779. The next year saw a change. Spain 
joined the league. The odds were now distinctly against 
England. In America, however, her troops gained one 
brilliant success. For the second time the British, arriving 
by sea, invaded the South, and a mixed French and American 
army which met them near Savannah^ was totally routed 
(October 9, 1779). But this victory was more than counter- 
balanced by a number of American successes. The British 
garrison at Newport was forced to withdraw and seek safety 
in New York. Anthony Wayne captured the important Brit- 
ish station of Stony Point on the Hudson. By the capture 
of Vinccnnes (see map, p. 201) Clark made an end of British 
power in the West. The Six Nations, which had sided steadily 

' Occupied by a British force carl}' in the war. 

'The British occupied Savannah in 1778 and early in 1779 advanced their 
outposts as far as AuRusta. Their further attempts to occupy upper Georgia 
were foiled by an American victory at Kettle Creek. Later the Americans 
suffered a defeat in the desperate battle of Brier Creek (March 3, 1779). 
Following up their success the British moved northward and threatened 
Charleston but were forced back upon Savannah, where they turned the tables 
and gained a great victory. 



THE WAR OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 20I 

with the crown, were all but annihilated by General Sullivan. 
But the greatest achievement of this year occurred outside of 
America. A great French and Spanish fleet of sixty ships of 
war sailed along the southern coast of England and offered 
battle to Sir Charles Hardy, who had not a sufficient force 
to engage them. For the first time in ninety years the British 




CLARK'S CAMPAIGN IN THE WEST 



Channel was commanded by a fleet that did not fly the British 
flag. England's naval supremacy was for the moment lost. 

Under the American flag, John Paul Jones, in the Bon- 
homme Richard,^ sailed up the east coast of Great Britain. 
Near the mouth of the Humber he fought a celebrated battle 
with the British man-of-war Serapis. For some time the two 

1 Congress had provided for the equipment of thirteen frigates in 1775. By 
the end of 1778 nine had been captured by the British. Though other ships 
were bought, the losses exceeded the additions. At the end of the war the 
American navy had shrunk to six vessels. 



202 AMERICAN HISTORY 

ships lay so close that the muzzles of their guns touched. At 
length the captain of the Serapis struck his flag. 

Ranging far afield, the French navy conquered the English 
settlements on the west coast of Africa. In the West Indies 
they took the British islands of Grenada and St. Vincent. 
One great Spanish force besieged Gibraltar; another took 
possession of West Florida. 

To complete the distress of England, France raised up 
against her a terrible enemy in the East. This was Hyder Ali, 
the ruler of Mysore. For some time French agents had 
swarmed at his court. What they had been about was made 
plain when at the head of ninety thousand men, directed by 
French officers, Hyder Ali burst into British India, spread- 
ing ruin and death before him. Thus France contrived to 
keep the British forces in India desperately at bay. Only 
the genius of Warren Hastings saved British India from 
destruction. 

295. The Northern Neutrality. In Europe also misfortune 
dogged the government of George III. Holland joined the 
circle of his enemies. Four nations were now leagued in the 
war against him. Furthermore, through the wiles of Frederick 
of Prussia, it was now made possible for neutral nations to 
trade in safety with America. Hitherto England had 
maintained that goods intended for America were subject to 
capture and confiscation, no matter under what flag they were 
carried. A proclamation of the Empress Catherine of Russia 
in March, 1780, instigated by Frederick, announced that 
Russia would no longer consent to the British practice. 
Sweden and Denmark, as well as Prussia, endorsed the position 
taken by the empress. This agreement, known as " The 
Northern Neutrality," was a great diplomatic victory for the 
enemies of England. The year 1780 was one of the very 
darkest in the whole of England's history. Attacked on 
every side, she was without a friend in the world. 



THE WAR OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 203 

IV. THE DISRUPTION OF THE EMPIRE 

296. Camden. Strangely enough, the only news that in 
any way comforted George III, in 1780, came from America. 
Charleston, after a siege of six weeks, surrendered in May. 
In August the faithful Cornwallis, with some two thousand 
troops, met an American army, three thousand strong, under 
Gates and routed it at Camden. That was the last great 
success of the British arms in America. 

297. Arnold's Treason. More demoralizing to the Ameri- 
cans than the defeat at Camden was an event which took 
place the following month. Benedict Arnold is one of the 
problems of the Revolution. We have seen how capable he 
was. His talent no one questions ; his character is the 
problem. Because he fancied himself slighted by Congress, 
he planned to surrender West Point to Sir Henry Clinton, in 
return for a general's commission and thirty thousand dollars. 
Major John Andre visited him in disguise to conduct the 
negotiation. By mere chance, however, on September 23, 
1780, Andre was detected while on his way back to the 
British lines, and the plot discovered. So deeply was Wash- 
ington affected by the discovery of Arnold's treason that he 
broke down and wept, exclaiming to Lafayette, " Whom can 
we trust now? " Arnold was warned in time to escape to the 
British lines, but Andre was hanged as a spy. 

298. The Southern Campaign. The war in the Carolinas 
was carried on chiefly by small bands of irregular soldiers who 
swept across the country, cut off the British scouting parties, 
destroyed stores, and acted generally like a swarm of hornets. 
The most noted leaders of these heroic bandits were Francis 
Marion and Thomas Sumter. They were hampered con- 
stantly by the Tory population, which was considerable and 
everywhere gave priceless aid to thp British. The Tory 
leader, Sir Banastre Tarleton, distinguished himself in this 
furtive warfare both for ruthlessness and ability. Suddenly 
out of the West, when things looked darkest for the patriots. 



204 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



came unexpected aid. In the mountains of the CaroHnas, 
and in new settlements which were soon to be known as 
Tennessee, was a population of hardy backwoodsmen. From 
these was recruited a mountain force led by John Sevier, 
which attacked an important British force commanded 
by Major Ferguson, at 
Kings Mountain, October 
7, 1780.1 The 
entire British 




British Movements 
. American ** 



THE WAR IN THE SOUTH 

force of eleven hundred 
men was either killed 
or captured. The vic- 
tory put new spirit into 
the Whigs. Jefferson 
called it the " joyful 
turn of the tide." 
299. Greene in the South. A great effort was now made 
to recover the Carolinas from Cornwallis, who, at the opening 
of 1 78 1, held the central portion of South Carolina and part 
of Georgia. General Nathanael Greene took command of 

1 The battle of Kings Mountain was won by an assemblage of volunteers 
that had little formal organization. Besides the Tennessecans, commanded by 
Sevier and Isaac Shelby, there were Virginians, led by William Campbell ; 
North Carolinians, led by Benjamin Cleveland and Joseph McDowell ; South 
Carolinians and Georgians under various leaders of which the best known was 
James Williams. 



THE WAR OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 205 



the Americans and sent Daniel Morgan against Tarleton, at 
the extreme west end of Cornwallis' line; Greene himself 
threatened the east end. At Cowpens, January 17, 1781, 
Morgan won a victory, destroying two thirds of Tarleton's 
command. Cornwallis with some five thou- 
sand troops then pushed forward to strike 
Greene, but the American general played 
a crafty part. He skillfully lured Corn- 
wallis farther and farther north and kept 
himself just out of reach. At Guilford, 
in North CaroHna, he turned at bay. A 
fierce engagement there, March 15, 1781, 
while scarcely an American victory, in- 
flicted such loss upon the British that 
Cornwallis retreated to the coast and rested 
his army at Wilmington. 

300. Revolutionary Finance. In spite 
of the gallant work done in the Carolinas, 
the winter of 1 780-1781 was a gloomy one 
for the Americans. Their resources were 
exhausted. Congress had no hard money 




■•^dSfS^^L ..,»#» 



FIRST MONUMENT 
TO A WOMAN OF 
THE AMERICAN 
REVOLUTION 

at all and its paper money — the so-called Erected on Guilford 

battle ground at 
Greensboro, N. C, 
to Mrs. Kerenhap- 
puch Turner, who 
upon hearing that 
one of her sons was 
wounded, rode on 
horseback all the 
way from her home 
in Maryland to Guil- 
ford Court House. 



" continental " notes — had so little value 
that "not worth a continental" is a proverb 
for worthlessness to this day. Of these 
notes some two hundred forty-two million 
had been issued.^ In 1781 a gold dollar 
was worth a thousand paper dollars. Con- 
gress was in debt to the amount of thirty- 
six million dollars in gold. No one knew 
how this debt was going to be paid. General discontent had 
settled down upon the country. At the opening of 1781 per- 
haps the only buoyant Americans were the Tories, who in spite 
of the reverses of Cornwallis and England's misfortunes all 



1 Great numbers were redeemed by Congress, in 1780, at two and a half 
cents on the dollar. 



2o6 AMERICAN HISTORY 

over the world were still confident of success. In startling 
contrast was the dissatisfaction with the Whig cause shown by 
a part of the American army. A body of Pennsylvania troops 
mutinied, deposed their officers, and demanded their pay, 
which was long in arrears. They were permitted to withdraw 
from the army and disband. But their example was con- 
tagious. Soon afterward a New Jersey contingent also mu- 
tinied. Thereupon Washington showed the iron in him. 
Though so long-enduring, he could be terrible on occasion. 
Calling up some faithful Massachusetts troops on whom he 
knew he could rely, he surrounded the mutineers and com- 
pelled them to surrender. Two of their number were chosen 
for an example and promptly shot. That was the end of 
mutiny in the American army. 

301. The Last Crisis. No one saw clearer than Washington, 
however, that it would not do to let the war drag along much 
longer. France was the head of the alliance against England, 
and if France did not push things to a conclusion the cause 
would yet be lost. Even in its dying agony, the old English 
empire of the eighteenth century was a terrible adversary. 
As to the American part of the world-wide war, Washington 
summed up the situation thus : " Without a foreign loan our 
present force which is but the remnant of an army cannot be 
kept together. ... If France delays a timely and powerful 
aid in the present posture of our affairs, it will avail nothing 
should she attempt it hereafter. ... In a word we are at 
the end of our tether and now or never deliverance must 
come." 

302. John Laurens. It was resolved to send a special 
envoy to Louis XVT, and this delicate mission was entrusted 
to a young South Carolinian, John Laurens. A gleam of 
graciousncss flashes across the somber record of 1781 at the 
mention of John Laurens, an accompHshed youth who added 
to his other merits the charm of extreme good looks. He 
captivated both the king and the queen of France and made 
his embassy a complete success. Louis presented the United 



THE WAR OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 207 

States with six million livres, loaned them four million, and 
endorsed their notes for ten million more, which were bor- 
rowed in Holland. Thus the crisis passed. 

303. Last American Campaign. During 1781 Spanish 
forces drove the British from Pensacola. De Grasse, the best 
of French admirals, established French naval supremacy in 
the West Indies and thence, in July, 1781, sailed for the United 
States, bringing an army of French regulars. 

Meanwhile, the British commanders in America had de- 
cided on a change of campaign, and a large part of the British 
force at New York had been removed by sea to Virginia. 
There they were joined by Cornwallis, who thus found himself 
at the head of no less than seven thousand veterans. The 
moment it became evident that the British would invade 
Virginia, Washington had sent Lafayette to take command 
against Cornwallis. During the summer there were several 
indecisive actions. At length Cornwallis decided to fortify a 
point on the coast and wait for reenforcements. He occupied 
Yorktown, August i, 1781.^ 

304. The Advance against Yorktown. Washington now 
formed a bold scheme. With the greatest secrecy he withdrew 
most of his army from before New York and started on a 
swift but long march for Yorktown. While Washington 
was on the march, De Grasse with his French fleet entered 
Chesapeake Bay. 

Since the greater part of the British force was still at New 
York, and Washington was already far to the south, the 
chief question of the moment was the control of the sea. 
Four fleets were involved. De Grasse was in the Chesapeake. 
Another French fleet lay at Newport. Admiral Graves with 
a British fleet was at New York. Sir Samuel Hood brought 



^ Meanwhile Greene had resumed operations against the force left by Corn- 
wallis in the Carolinas. There was desperate fighting in Carolina during most 
of 1 781. The fierce battle of Eutaw Springs, September 8, was claimed as 
a victory by both sides. However, the British withdrew to Charleston, where 
they were besieged. 




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THE WAR OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 209 

another British fleet to New York within two days after the 
arrival of De Grasse at Yorktown. If Hood and Graves 
could beat De Grasse, it would still be possible to transfer 
all the British armies by sea to Yorktown, and Washington's 
long march would count for nothing. 

305. De Grasse turns the Scale. In order to open a sea 
road from New York to Yorktown, Graves and Hood sailed 
for the Chesapeake. The battle which decided this last 
American campaign was a naval engagement off the entrance 
to Chesapeake Bay, September 5, 1781. De Grasse won an 
easy victory over Hood and Graves, who returned hopeless 
to New York. The Newport fleet then joined De Grasse in 
safety. It brought soldiers and cannon to take part against 
Cornwallis. 

306. Siege of Yorktown. The Chesapeake was now entirely 
protected by French ships of war, and Washington's army 
was conveyed by water from Pennsylvania to Yorktown. 
By the middle of September the land side of Yorktown was 
besieged by sixteen thousand men, seven thousand of them 
French regulars. On the water side it was blockaded by a 
great French fleet. Within this doomed circle seven thousand 
British soldiers stood grimly at bay for more than a month. 
Slowly, steadily, the allies crowded the British into narrower 
and narrower space. French and Americans vied with each 
other to see which should show the greater coolness and 
audacity in assaults. At length, after all the outer fortifica- 
tions had been taken by storm, Cornwallis gave up his gallant 
but hopeless defense. He surrendered his whole army October 
19, 1781. 

V. THE END OF ABSOLUTISM 

307. Whigs return to Power. When the news of the sur- 
render of Yorktown reached England, Lord North threw up 
his hands and exclaimed, " All is over." The personal rule 
of George III was at an end. Even the Tory majority in 
Parliament failed him, and sullenly he accepted a Whig prime 



210 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



minister, Lord Rockingham.^ Never has an English prime 
minister come into office under such distressing circumstances. 
Sixteen years before, this same Lord Rockingham and his 
Whig colleagues had warned this same king what would in- 
evitably follow from his attempt to revive absolutism. The 
spectacle of Rockingham being called on to undo the king's 

work is one of the famous 



/V — K^ 



ironies of history. The 
men who would have 
saved the empire were 
now to wind up its affairs, 
make an end of the old 
English empire of the 
seventeenth and eight- 
eenth centuries, and begin 
a new one — the modern 
British empire of our own 
day. Toward America 
their course had never 
wavered. Nor did it now. 
Their plan was to offer 
America instant recogni- 
tion, but to prosecute the 
war vigorously against 
the enemies of England 
in Europe and Asia. 
308. Battle of Dominica. However, the senseless and 
terrible war was not quite over. At the opening of 1782 
France and Spain thought the time had come to destroy 
England. The last blow to her prestige was to be struck by a 
great fleet which was brought together in the West Indies 
with De Grasse in command. At this supreme crisis in her 
affairs England was saved by one of her greatest admirals, Sir 
George Rodney, who met De Grasse off the Island of Dominica, 
April 12, '1782. After twelve hours of furious battle the 

* The same who secured the repeal of the Stamp Act. See section 243. 




DISPOSITION OF AMERICAN TERRITORY 
PROPOSED BY VERGENNES 



THE WAR OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 211 

French admiral struck his flag. The whole of that proud 
fleet which was to give England her deathblow was either 
sunk or taken, or in headlong flight. This great victory put 
the peace negotiations on a new footing. Everybody was ex- 
hausted. The time had come to establish peace among the 
nations with general fairness to all concerned. 

309. The Treaty of Paris. The plenipotentiaries of the 
various powers met at Paris, where America was represented 






FACSIMILE OF SIGNATURES TO THE TREATY OF 1783 

by Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay. After tortuous 
negotiation,^ several treaties were drawn up. The one between 
the United States and Great Britain was signed September 3, 
1783. This momentous document, which admitted our coun- 
try into the family of the nations, began thus : " His Brittanic 
Majesty acknowledges the said United States ... to be free, 
sovereign and independent states." . . . 



1 America's allies attempted to play us false, seeking to effect a settlement 
that would confine the Americans to a narrow strip along the Atlantic coast. 
Thereupon, the American commissioners violated the letter of their agreement 
with France and concluded a separate treaty. For doing so they have been 
accused of bad faith. See Channing, "History," III, 346-373; Lecky, "Eng- 
land," IV, 218-220, 271-302; Hale, "Frankhn in France," chaps, iv-xi. 
FitzMaurice, "Life of Shelburne," III, 164-327; Fiske, "Critical Period," 
1-49- 



212 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Selections from the Sources. Hart, Contemporaries, II, Nos. 170-183, 
193-220 ; Macdonald, Docwnentary Source Book, No. 52 ; Documents, No. 
15. The young student is hardly in a position to use wisely the vast 
mass of source material on the Revolutionary War. At most, perhaps, 
— if he is to venture outside the few noted above, — he might use the 
Journals of the Continental Congress; Moore, Digest of International Law; 
Wharton, Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspofidence; Force, American 
Archives. 

Secondary Accounts. Trevelyan, American Revolution, Pt. 3, 2S9- 
339; FiSKE, American Revolution, II, 25-48, 82-109, 1 16-130; Van 
Tyne, American Revolution, 120-135, 202-243, 269-333; Lecky, His- 
tory of England, IV, 70-96, 166-170, 218-220, 271-302; Bancroft, His- 
tory (last revision) V, 226-268, 300-365, 439-458, 535-58°; Channing, 
History, III, 210-387; Fisher, Struggle for Itidepcndence, II, 106-121, 
246-255, 328-335, 504-551 ; Roosevelt, Winning of the West, I, chaps. 
V, vii-xii ; II, chaps, i-iv, viii, x-xiii ; Sumner, Financier and Finances 
of the Revolution ; FitzMavrice, Life of Shelbtirne, III, 164-327; Hale, 
Franklin in France, chaps, iv-xi ; Morse, Frajtklin, 352-397; Tower, 
The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution; Carter, Great 
Britain and the Illinois Country, 103-163 ; Turner, State Making during 
the Revolution (American Historial Review, I, 70-87, 251-269) ; Cald- 
well, History of Tennessee. 

Bibliographies. Channing, Hart, and Turner, Guide to the Study of 
American History, 111-152; Andrews, Gambrill, and Tall, Bibliog- 
raphy of History for Schools, 107-108. 

Maps. Avery, History, V, 174-175, 402; VI, 279, 350, 351, 362; 
Shepherd, Historical Atlas, 189-194, 199. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. The Parties in America. 2. Washing- 
ton's Early Career. 3. The Great Campaign. 4. The American Party 
in France. 5. The Policy of Vergennes. 6. Frederick the Great and 
the American Revolution. 7. The American Navy in the Revolution. 
8. The Conquest of the West. 9. John Sevier. 10. Revolutionary 
Finance. 11. The Mission of John Laurens. 12. De Grasse. 13. The 
European Volunteers. 14. Negotiations in Connection with the Treaty 
of Paris. 



CHAPTER XVI 



THE THIRTEEN STATES 




ILLUSTRATION USED IN 
FRANKLIN'S PAPER 



310. The New Power. Out of all this turmoil had come a 
new power called the United States of America. We must 
now consider just what it was the day that King George 
acknowledged its independence; we must then consider the 
difficulties confronting it that day and how it dealt with them. 

311. The Nature of the New Power. First of all, the 
new power was a confederation. We have seen that there 
had long been a demand for some 
sort of union among the western 
states of the empire. The Congress 
at Albany in 1754 (section 228) 
was busied with schemes for a union 
of colonies. Franklin had exerted 
his powerful influence in favor of 
union, and had made clever use in 
his newspaper of the superstition that a snake cut into pieces 
may regain life if the pieces are quickly united. Thus he 
described the condition of the American states. 

Soon after the Declaration was signed. Congress set to work 
to devise a plan of union, and after long discussion drew up 
certain Articles of Confederation (November 17, 1777) which 
were submitted to the states for ratification.^ 

312. The Adoption of the Articles. The plan proposed in 
these Articles was speedily accepted by various states, but 

1 Meantime, in the various states local revolutions had overturned the royal 
governments and set up new ones in their stead. See Fiske, "Critical Period," 
64-70; Van Tyne, "American Revolution," 136-156; Jameson, "Constitu- 
tional Conventions," 125-158; Fisher, "Evolution of the Constitution," 
chap. iv. 

213 



214 AMERICAN HISTORY 

not without objection. There were contentions among the 
states due to the fact that the original grants from the crown 
were often inconsistent, and the state boundaries therefore 
not beyond dispute. For example, a strip of land which is 
now northern Ohio, was claimed by Connecticut because it 
lay within the boundaries laid down in the Connecticut 
charter (section ii6). On the other hand, Virginia claimed 
the same region, partly on the strength of Clark's conquest 
of the Ohio country (sections 293-294), partly by virtue of 
King James' Virginia grant of 1609, which, it was claimed, gave 
V'irginia the entire Northwest.^ 

There were many other contentions over boundaries (see 
map, opposite), but this one about the Northwest shows us 
the heart of the matter. It shows also why Maryland re- 
fused at first to ratify the Articles of Confederation. A small, 
closed state, it had no chance to expand westward, and feared 
to enter a confederacy in which after a while the one state, 
Virginia, might be almost an empire in itself. Therefore 
Maryland declared it would not enter unless the principle 
was established that all unoccupied land acquired during the 
war should belong to the confederacy as a whole. After 
nearly three years of contention, the matter was compromised.* 
Political jurisdiction over the West was renounced by the states 
claiming that region ; but they retained as mere owners large 
tracts of land. The Articles were then accepted by all the 
states, and the confederation of the United States of America 
was estabhshed March i, 1781. 

313. The Second American Confederation. This was the 
second American attempt at confederate government. We 

■The grant of 1609 (section 45, note) described Virginia as extending 
into the interior " west and northwest." Hence Virginia claimed everything 
west of Pennsylvania. See map. 

* The final settlement of the western land question was not effected until 
many years later. However, the compromise indicated above was eventually 
carried out. Most of the land retained by the various states was used to re- 
ward Revolutionary soldiers w'ho had claims for hack pay. Numbers of them 
started West almost as soon as peace was declared. 



THE THIRTEEN STATES 215 

have seen how the " United Colonies of New England " were 
brought together, what trouble they had in keeping together, 
how at last their confederacy collapsed (sections 103, 106, 
108). The second American confederacy was in general much 
like the first. Both illustrated the same type of confederate 
government, — the type in which there is equal distribution 
of authority among the members, but unequal distribution 
of burdens. 

While every state was to have the same share in lawmaking, 
the expenses of the confederacy were to be divided among 
the states in proportion to the value of the land in each.^ 
Moreover, in the second confederation, as in the first, the 
general government was not to be allowed to collect its own 
revenues. The Articles provided for a confederate Congress 
that was to apportion to each state the part it ought to pay, 
make a " requisition " on the state for that part, and leave 
everything else in the state's own hands. If the state should 
not see fit to honor the requisition, Congress was not to have 
any power to compel it to do so. 

This new confederate Congress, like the older Continental 
Congress, consisted of but one chamber. It was made up of 
delegates chosen by the state governments. The voting was 
by states, and each state, as we have seen, cast one vote. A 
mere majority of states could pass measures of minor impor- 
tance, but no vital measure could be passed unless nine states 
approved it. The Articles could be amended only by unani- 
mous vote of all the states. All the officers of government 
were appointed by Congress and were answerable to it, much 
as the EngHsh ministry is answerable to Parliament to-day. 
Of the officers appointed by Congress, the chief were secretary 
of war, superintendent of finance, secretary of foreign affairs, 
and postmaster general. 

1 At first it was proposed to apportion expenses, as in the New England Con- 
federation (section 107), according to population. At once was raised the ques- 
tion, how shall population be counted ? This question made slavery an issue 
in American politics, for the states which had few slaves wished to have the 
slaves counted, while the states with numerous slaves objected. 



2i6 AMERICAN HISTORY 

However, very little was given Congress to do except to 
conduct negotiations with foreign governments. Practically 
everything else was left to the separate states, which were 
declared to be sovereign, free, and independent. The con- 
federacy as a whole was described as a " perpetual Union and 
firm league of friendship." This loose confederacy, at the 
head of which stood a Congress with very Httle authority, was 
the new power among the nations which was recognized by 
George III in 1783. 

314. The Problems of 1783. The new government was 
confronted by a number of difficult problems. First of all 
there was the great problem of the land. By the treaty with 
George III the territory of the confederation was defined.^ 
But the treaty settled nothing as to the boundaries of the 
different states. As we have seen, the Articles had been ac- 
cepted on the understanding that the western country should 
be taken over by Congress. One of the chief problems of 
1783 was how to convert into law the understanding about 
the western land. 

315. The Interstate Problem of 1783. The jealousy among 
the states revealed by the contention over the land was but 
one sign of a general strained relation. In seeking the reason 
for this we discover two main sources of all the troubles of 
America during the next hundred years. 

First, the people of the various states differed widely in 
thought and feeling, but in each state the population was 
comparatively of one mind. The people of Virginia, for ex- 
ample, when compared with the people of Massachusetts, 
almost without exception found it hard to understand how 

' The northern boundary was practically what it is now, as far west as the 
Lake of the \A'oods. The western boundary was the Mississippi. The southern 
was the thirty-first parallel from the Mississippi to the Apalachicola River; 
thence to the sea it was the present southern line of Gcorf^iia. .\11 America west 
of the Mississippi and everything south of the thirty-first parallel and the 
Georgia line was given to Spain. 

There were two confusing statements in the description of the boundary. 
See section 431, note, for the settlement of the northwestern confusion; section 
492, note, for the settlement of the northeastern confusion. 



THE THIRTEEN STATES 217 

the other people looked at things. This was more or less true 
of any two states separated from each other by a considerable 
distance. 

Second, the geographical conditions of the various states 
were widely dissimilar. 

This latter fact introduces us to a matter which henceforth 
is one of the prime issues of American history. Because of 
the great differences in geographical conditions, different parts 
of our country have developed in different ways. Since 1783 
there has never been a minute when all parts of the country 
had the same material interests. Thus have been produced 
sharp commercial rivalries among the different sections. 
All this was fully apparent in 1783. For example, the men 
of New England, with a poor soil, fine harbors, and many ships, 
being far to the northeast, wanted close commercial relations 
with the north of Europe, and had Httle interest in the develop- 
ment of agriculture. Virginia, on the other hand, with a rich 
soil and no special reason for building ships, cared little about 
commerce, and everything about agriculture. But both New 
England and Virginia, since they bordered on the Atlantic 
and traded chiefly with England, were in haste to get satis- 
factory commercial agreements with George III. Toward the 
west, however, there were new settlements which had the 
richest of soil, but no ships and no seaboard. They wanted 
free navigation of the Mississippi so that they might float 
their produce down the river to the sea. But Spain controlled 
the mouth of the river. In foreign affairs these people cared 
nothing about relations with England, everything about rela- 
tions with Spain. They were jealous lest their interests should 
be sacrificed to those of the old states along the seaboard. On 
the other hand, the Easterners insisted that their interests 
must not be set aside to please a parcel of " backwoods- 
men." So it came about that a major problem of 1783 was 
how to quiet the jealousies of these widely dissimilar states.^ 

1 The whole matter is well presented in McMaster, "United States," I, 147- 
150, 154-166, 204-208, 262-266, 371-389. 



2i8 AMERICAN HISTORY 

316. The Foreign Problems of 1783. What has just been 
said gives us the clew to a third great problem. The con- 
federate government had to estabhsh trade relations with 
foreign powers. In most cases the European nations gave the 
new country a helping hand, but there were two exceptions. 

Spain had never favored the colonies. She went into the 
war solely as the ally of France, and for the purpose of injuring 
England. In the course of the war she had endeavored to 
seize for herself the region between the mountains and the 
Mississippi. She was foiled chiefly by the Virginians, and 
also by the astute diplomacy of the American plenipotentiaries 
in 1783 (section 309, note). But having control of the mouth 
of the Mississippi, she had an effective weapon against the 
Americans which she meant to use. 

In the British treaty of 1783 it had been agreed: (i) 
that Congress should recommend to the states that they deal 
mercifully with the American Tories; (2) that all debts of 
Americans to British merchants should be paid; (3) that 
certain British garrisons stationed inside the boundaries of 
the confederation should be withdrawn " with all convenient 
speed " ; (4) that the retiring British soldiers should not take 
with them any " negroes or other property." England 
refused to make any commercial agreement with the Ameri- 
cans until the treaty stipulations were fulfilled. Here, then, 
was a problem of first importance in 1783 : how were foreign 
relations to be adjusted with England and Spain? 

317. The Financial Problem of 1783. The confederacy 
inherited, of course, all the debt incurred by the Continental 
Congress. It had to pay this debt, and also to provide funds 
for carrying on the confederate government. And yet it was 
unable to lay taxes of any sort. All it could do was to appeal 
to the various states for the amounts needed. It could not 
even make a binding contract agreeing to pay back a loan at 
some future date. All its future actions in finance dci)cndcd 
upon what the various states saw fit to do. The fourth great 
problem of 1 783 was : how could the states be induced to 



THE THIRTEEN STATES 219 

contribute adequately to the payment of the debt and the 
maintenance of the government of the confederacy? 

318. Efforts of Congress to solve the Land Problem. Let 
us observe in turn the efforts of the confederate Congress to 
solve each of these problems. First, the land problem. 

There were three distinct areas west of the mountains to be 
considered. One of these was not involved in the contentions 
which had retarded the acceptance of the Articles. This 
area, which should not be considered in this connection, com- 
prised the region now occupied by Kentucky and Tennessee. 
It had been entered by settlers from the East before the 
Revolutionary War began, and there was no question as to 
what states were entitled to this area. The upper part, in 
1783, formed the Kentucky County of Virginia; the lower 
part, Washington County of North Carolina. 

The land in dispute in 1783 formed two great blocks, one 
south of Washington County, the other north of Kentucky 
County. The southern block proved the more difficult prob- 
lem of the two. A thin strip along its upper edge was claimed 
by South Carolina on the strength of its original charter 
(section 118) ; Georgia claimed all the rest ; while the portion 
lying southward from the mouth of the Yazoo was also claimed 
by Spain. ^ Of these claims one, that of South Carolina, was 
transferred to the confederate government in 1787, but both 
Georgia and Spain refused to yield their claims. All through 
the period we are now discussing, the problem of the south- 
western land remained unsettled, a constant source of friction 
between Spain, the United States, and Georgia. 

The northwestern area offered fewer difficulties, and one 
after another the various states claiming the Northwest ^ made 

1 Spain's argument was that in 1764 England changed the north line of West 
Florida, making it the parallel of the mouth of the Yazoo (32° 28'); in 1783 
she ceded Florida to Spain (section 314, note); therefore, said Spain, in fixing 
the south line of the United States at 31°, England had ceded land not right- 
fully in her possession. 

2 New York claimed most of the Ohio Valley on the ground that it had for- 
merly belonged to the Six Nations, and the Six Nations were subject to New 



220 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



over their claims to the confederacy — New York in 1781; 
Virginia in 1784 ; Massachusetts in 1785 ; Connecticut in 1786. 
319. Sale of Lands. Even before the various cessions were 
completed, Congress had decided to sell the western lands 
and use the proceeds to pay off the confederate debt. Jeffer- 
son, in 1784, brought forward a plan for organizing new states 
in the West as fast as desirable, and for providing meanwhile 
a temporary government there. ^ Congress accepted part of 
his plan and the next year adopted the Grayson Ordinance, 

which provided for 
setting aside, to be 
used as an endow- 
ment for schools, 
one thirty-sixth part 
of all the confeder- 
ate lands in the 
West, the remainder 
to be sold at one 
dollar an acre. 

Companies were 
soon formed which 
began to speculate 
in the West, ex- 
changing the depre- 
ciated government bonds — to use our present term — for 
certificates of land. Notable among these companies were 
the Ohio Company ,2 which took up some nine hundred 
thousand acres in present Ohio, and the Symmes Company, 
which took up a quarter of a million acres, including the site 
of Cincinnati. Many settlers were transported by the land 




AN EARLY MILL IN OHIO 



York. Massachusetts relinquished to New York, her claim to the western 
third of that state. See map opjxjsite page 214. 

Connecticut relinquished to Pennsylvania her claim to the northern third of the 
state. The northwest corner of Pennsylvania was secured by purchase in 17S8. 

' For the boundaries and names of the states proposed by Jefferson, see map 
in Channing, "History," III, 538. 

* The second company of that name. 



THE TfflRTEEN STATES 221 

companies into the West. The immigrants generally went 
to Pittsburg, built flatboats there, and floated down the 
Ohio River to various points along its banks as far west as 
the new town of Louisville. In the course of eight months 
in 1787, two thousand seven hundred persons went down 
the Ohio on these immigrant boats. 

320. Northwest Ordinance. In that year, 1787, the Ohio 
Company sent its agent, Manasseh Cutler, to confer with 
Congress. Revolutionary soldiers in New England were the 
chief supporters of this company, and many of them wished 
to settle beyond the Ohio, but they also wished to have the 
economic conditions with which they were familiar extended 
to the Northwest. As a consequence of Cutler's mission Con- 
gress passed the Northwest Ordinance, July 13, 1787, organ- 
izing the Northwest Territory ^ and setting forth six articles 
of compact which were to bind the Northwest forever. These 
were: 

(i) There should be absolute religious toleration. 

(2) The principles of poHtical freedom, as inherited by the 
older states from En^gland, should be perpetual. 

(3) Education should be " forever encouraged," and — as if 
Congress thought the two things went together — " the utmost 
good faith " should be observed toward the Indians ; their 
lands were never to be taken from them without their consent. 

(4) The Northwest Territory, and such states as might be 
formed from it, should " forever remain a part of this con- 
federacy." 

(5) As soon as practicable the territory should be divided 
into not less than three, nor more than five, states. 

(6) Slavery should never exist in the Northwest, but fugi- 
tive slaves having escaped from the older states should be re- 
turned to their owners.^ 

* Comprising the region now occupied by the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
Michigan, and Wisconsin. 

2 Slavery was then supposed to be gradually disappearing. It had been 
aboHshed by state law in Vermont in 1777, in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts 



22 2 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Thus was solved the Northwestern problem. A territorial 
government was speedily organized with General Arthur St. 
Clair as governor. The capital was fixed at Marietta, which 
was founded by colonists sent out by the Ohio Company, 
under Rufus Putnam, April 7, 1788. 

321. Efforts of Congress to solve the Foreign Problem. 
The confederate Congress in its attempts to deal with the 
other problems of the day was unsuccessful. Conspicuous 
was its humiliating failure to solve the foreign problem. 
It could not negotiate satisfactorily with England because its 
recommendations with regard to Tories were ignored by the 
states. How we wish to-day that we could wipe out this part 
of the record ! If only our fathers could have been magnani- 
mous to their fallen enemies. The Tories were, in the main, 
men of high social position who had borne great hardships 
with fine courage. Now, when they were willing to accept the 
decision of fate and do their part in the new country, they 
would have formed an element of strength. The best Whigs 
wished to forgive and forget. Such men as Patrick Henry 
in Virginia and Alexander Hamilton in New York ardently took 
the side of the Tories ; but they made no impression on the 
mass of their party. By merciless state laws the property of 
Tories was generally confiscated. Ill-treatment of various 
kinds forced many thousands to leave the country. 

Nor was Congress able to secure the payment of debts due 
British merchants previous to the war. Before the treaty was 
signed, five states had passed laws practically confiscating 
such debts. Even after the signing of the treaty, in defiance 
of the promise which it contained, Massachusetts and Penn- 
sylvania passed similar acts. Therefore England refused 
either to withdraw her garrisons from the northern posts or 

in 1780, in New Hampshire in 1783, in Connecticut and Rhode Island in 1784. 
The northern states of New York and New Jersey and all the southern states 
still legalized it, but most people looked forward with indifference to its gradual 
extinction. A few were vehemently against it. An antislavcry society had 
been formed at Philadelphia in 1775. Some three thousand negroes who had 
been slaves in the war were set free with their families. 



THE THIRTEEN STATES 223 

to make any sort of commercial treaty, while a royal decree 
excluded all American ships from the West Indies. Thus 
Americans who were engaged in commerce were shut off from 
what, in colonial times, was a chief source of their prosperity. 
Furthermore, Spain forbade them to navigate the Mississippi 
without paying duties at New Orleans. All the East was 
angry because no agreement was reached with England ; all 
the West because none was reached with Spain. And yet, 
having no power to enforce its promises, Congress could do 
nothing to improve the situation. 

The European attitude toward the problem was summed 
up by the Duke of Dorset, speaking for George III: ''The 
apparent determination of the respective states to regulate 
their own separate interests renders it absolutely necessary, 
towards forming a permanent system of commerce, that my 
court should be informed how far the commissioners (of Con- 
gress) can be duly authorized to enter into any engagement 
with Great Britain which it may not be in the power of any 
one of the states to render totally useless and inefficient." 

322. Efforts of Congress to solve the Financial Problem. 
These shrewd words of the British diplomat described the 
whole American situation. They were amply justified by 
the failure of Congress to solve the financial problem which 
proved too difiicult even for the genius of Robert Morris, the 
able superintendent of finance.^ Morris made a full in- 

^ Second only to Morris as financier of the confederacy was an able Jew of 
Philadelphia, Haym Soloman. This remarkable man was an ardent patriot 
during the Revolution, and was imprisoned by the British. Having made his 
escape, he set up a brokerage business, and became treasurer of the French 
army in America. In Morris's diary between 1781 and 1784 his name occurs 
seventy-five times. In the desperate period just before the end of the war, 
Soloman was almost the main support of the patriot cause financially. On 
August 26, 1782, Morris wrote in his diary, "I went to Soloman and desired 
him to try every way he could to raise money, and then went in quest of it 
myself." The next day Madison wrote to Virginia urging remittance saying, 
"I have for some time past been a pensioner on the favor of Soloman." Shortly 
afterward he wrote that he never applied to Soloman without great mortifi- 
cation, "as he obstinately rejects all recompense. The price of money is so 



224 AMERICAN HISTORY 

vestigation of the accounts of the confederacy, and con- 
cluded that on January i, 1784, the United States owed 
at home thirty-one million five hundred thousand dollars, and 
in Europe eight million dollars. 

In the preceding year Congress had not been able to raise 
enough money to pay off the troops as they were disbanded, 
and Morris had raised on his personal security funds to pay 
the common soldiers ; while to the officers he had issued 
interest-bearing certificates. He also persuaded Congress to 
charter the Bank of North America located at Philadelphia, 
— the first joint-stock bank in the country. But in spite of 
every effort of the great financier, the financial situation grew 
worse and worse. Sometimes the states paid the " requisi- 
tions " made upon them, sometimes they did not. IVIorris 
could barely raise sufficient funds to pay the salaries of govern- 
ment officials, while the interest on the debt went unpaid. 

323. Failure to solve the Interstate Problem. What lay 
at the root of all the difficulties of Congress was its inability 
to solve the interstate problem. The jealousies and the con- 
flicting interests of the various states could not as yet be 
reconciled. This was demonstrated by the failure of three 
successive attempts to amend the Articles of Confederation. 

In 1 78 1 Congress asked the states to authorize what was 
called the " five-per-cent scheme." A duty of five per cent 
was to be laid on all imports, and the proceeds used to pay 
off the pubHc debt. Twelve states consented, but Rhode 
Island would not consent. As an amendment to the Articles 
had to be accepted by all the states, this one fell to the ground.^ 

In 1783 was proposed a new " revenue plan." It would have 

usurious that he thinks it ought to be extorted from none but those who are in 
profitable speculations. To a necessitous delegate he gratuitously spares a 
supply out of his private stock." Soloman was one of the earliest and heaviest 
contributors to the Bank of North America. 

'See Bancroft, "United States" (last ^e\^sion), V, 453-454, 560-561; VI, 
13-14, 24-35, 63-69, 80-82, Qo-96; McMaster, "United States," I, 141-147, 
153-154; Fiske, "Critical Period," 90-119; Dewey, "Financial History," 
chap. ii. 



THE THIRTEEN STATES 225 

given Congress authority to assess moderate duties for a 
period of twenty-five years, the collection of these duties to 
be left to the several states. The single state of New York 
defeated this' plan.^ 

In 1784 Congress, grown desperate over the failure to 
secure commercial treaties with England and Spain, made 
another appeal to the states to permit it to exercise sovereign 
authority. It asked for an amendment enabling it to pass 
navigation acts which should embarrass such foreign powers 
as persisted in refusing to conclude treaties of commerce. 
But only seven states could be brought to support this amend- 
ment, which, of course, came to nothing.^ 

324. Demand for a Stronger Government. In this chaotic 
state of affairs some of the chief men in America began 
demanding a stronger government for the confederacy. 

In speaking of the way the states neglected the requisi- 
tions of Congress, Jefferson said, " There will never be money 
in the treasury until the confederacy shows its teeth." Wash- 
ington, in 1783, wrote a circular letter to the governors of the 
states urging a more effective central government. Later he 
summed up the situation in one sentence, " Thirteen sov- 
ereignties pulling against each other, and all tugging at the 
federal head, will soon bring ruin on the whole." 

325. State Enmities. Some time had still to elapse before 
the pressure of necessity brought about a constitutional revo- 
lution. Meanwhile the thirteen sovereignties pulled against 
each other in every way possible. They showed their pref- 
erences in foreign relations by the duties they levied or refused 
to levy. Such as were bitter against England laid high duties 
on British goods. Some, willing to do anything to secure 
British trade, opened their ports to British ships without any 
duties at all. 



^ See footnote on opposite page. 

-See McMaster "United States," I, 207-208, 226-249; Fiske, "Critical 
Period," 134-144; Bancroft, "United States" (last revision), VI, 27,111-112, 
136, 139. 145- 



2 26 AMERICAN HISTORY 

States which had no good harbors were at the mercy of 
those that had. For example, New Jersey had to get all its 
European goods from either New York or Pennsylvania. 
Both these states laid heavy tolls on goods carried across 
them to New Jersey, which was described as " a cask tapped 
at both ends." It retaliated by laying an outrageous tax 
on the lighthouse of Sandy Hook, which was maintained by 
New York for the safety of its harbor. Massachusetts 
established a high tariff which operated against the other states. 
New York did the same. In Connecticut associations were 
fonned to boycott the New Yorkers. Five states went so 
far as to maintain their own armies, though the Articles of 
Confederation forbade them to do so. Worst of all were what 
are known as the " stay and tender laws." 

State after state passed " stay " laws by which the col- 
lection of debts was '' stayed," that is, put off for a specified 
period. The " tender " laws permitted a debtor to offer 
property instead of money in payment of debts. Naturally, 
the effect of such laws was to make it all but impossible for a 
citizen of one state to collect debts due to him in another. 
Thus there was some ground for the charge that the states, 
after confiscating the debts of their citizens to British mer- 
chants, had gone on in their evil course and were now con- 
fiscating debts of their citizens to their fellow-countrymen. 
To make the situation as bad as possible, several of the states 
indulged in reckless issues of valueless paper money. 

326. Secessions. These ruinous contentions were not only 
between states but also within states. All through this period 
the region which we now call Vermont was in rebellion against 
the state of New York, of which, previous to the Revolution, 
it had formed a part. In 1777 its people had organized a 
government of their own, and Vermont now clamored to be 
recognized as a state in the confederacy ; but it was not 
recognized, and all this while had no representatives either 
in the legislature of New York or in Congress. (See section 
359-) 



THE THIRTEEN STATES 



227 



A more determined secession movement took place in Ken- 
tucky. Fourteen years before the confederacy was formed, 
Daniel Boone had led the way into Kentucky. As far back 
as 1776 Virginia had organized it as a county with its present 
boundaries, and in 1784 Kentucky had a considerable popula- 
tion of bold pioneers who had pushed their way into the wilder- 
built themselves log cabins, and carried on desperate 



ness, 




A PIONEER KENTUCKY SETTLEMENT 



warfare with the Indians. So fierce had been the struggle 
between the races that Kentucky acquired the name of the 
" Dark and Bloody Ground." In 1784, like all the settlers 
west of the mountains, the Kentuckians were out of humor 
with the East. Already they had perceived that the key to 
their prosperity was the great western river, and they objected 
to remaining in a state whose interests were chiefly upon the 
seaboard. Therefore, a convention was held in Kentucky 
with a view to bringing about separation from Virginia, and 
the parent state, seeing that separation was inevitable, prac- 



228 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



tically promsiccl not to oppose it. From 1 784 Kentucky was 
eagerly waiting to become a state. 

The restlessness of the times affected still more powerfully 
the settlements south of Kentucky. A contemporary of 
Boone was William Beane, the first settler on the Watauga 
River in Tennessee. After the defeat of the " regulators " in 
the battle of the Alamance (section 250), many of the boldest 
North Carolinians withdrew across the mountains. Under 

the lead of John Sevier (sec- 
tion 298) and James Robert- 
son, there grew up the little 
community of " the Watauga 
Association." On the Wa- 
tauga, as in Kentucky, there 
was restless dissatisfaction 
with the idea of being part of 
an Atlantic state, and in 1784 
the Watauga people held a 
convention at Jonesboro, drew 
up a constitution, elected 
Sevier governor, and formally 
declared themselves members 
of the separate " State of 
Franklin." During the next 
two years there was considerable friction between this im- 
promptu state and North CaroHna. The new state was at 
last dissolved upon the understanding that the Tennessee 
country should speedily be formed into a separate common- 
wealth. 

327. A Dangerous Moment. It was by these determined 
Westerners that the issue over the Spanish question was 
forced. Congress, under the influence of the Eastern states, 
at length proposed to make a treaty with Spain, abandoning 
the freedom of navigation on the Mississippi, and the moment 
this became known the West flew into a rage. Just then the 
Spanish authorities at New Orleans confiscated the property 




JOHN SEVIER 



THE THIRTEEN STATES 229 

of an American trader. Thereupon the Kentuckians retali- 
ated by seizing the possessions of some Spanish merchants. 
The Westerners loudly threatened to secede. As a result, 
the treaty fell through, while Americans of each section de- 
clared angrily that they would never consent to let the oppos- 
ing section dictate the foreign policy of the confederation. 
Washington, always temperate, wrote, " The western states (I 
speak now from my own observation) stand as it were upon a 
pivot. The touch of a feather would turn them any way." 

328. The Demand for Reorganization. The year 1786 
brought things to a head. The northern posts were still oc- 
cupied by British troops, and Congress seemed as far as ever 
from being able to get rid of them. All the West was seething 
with discontent over the Mississippi question. Congress was 
bankrupt and the state governments were almost as badly off. 
Debts could not be collected. Business was at a standstill. 
There were riots which amounted to small insurrections. 
Finally Rhode Island took a step which seemed to forecast 
the destruction of the confederacy. The state recalled its 
delegates in Congress and refused to appoint others. Practi- 
cally, Rhode Island had seceded. 

At this desperate moment Virginia made the first move 
toward better things. It took the lead in organizing a con- 
vention on interstate trade, which met at Annapolis in Sep- 
tember, 1786. But only a few delegates appeared — so few 
that they did not attempt any business ; instead, a report was 
drawn up advising a general convention to be held in Philadel- 
phia the following May, for the purpose of revising the Articles 
of Confederation. 

329. Shays' Rebellion. While the Virginia proposition 
was being discussed, in the winter of 1 786-1 787, the various 
causes of discontent merged at last in a fury of insurrection. 
It reached its height in Massachusetts, where many farmers 
were so deeply in debt that they lost hope of ever getting out. 
They began to draw together in bands which attacked the 
courts and drove the judges from the bench. Presently, 



230 AMERICAN HISTORY 

they found a leader, a discontented Revolutionary soldier, 
Captain Daniel Shays. From him the movement has been 
called ever since Shays' Rebellion. In the early part of 1787 
he was at the head of an unruly force of eighteen hundred 
rebels. However, the rebels had too little organization to be 
really formidable. Their first serious clash with the state 
militia ended in their dispersion, and Shays' Rebellion passed 
away like a passing thunder storm. But people generally 
saw in it a significant warning that cither things must change 
or worse rebellions would follow. 

330. The Constitutional Convention. Within a month 
after the collapse of Shays' Rebellion, Congress acted on the 
Virginia proposition and issued a formal call (February 21, 
1787) for a convention to revise the Articles of Confederation. 

Selections from the Sources. Johnson, Readings in American Constitu- 
tional History, 55-139; Hart, Contemporaries, II, 134-137, 209, 210; 
III, 37-59, 166-169; Macdonald, Source Book,'^o?,. 51-53; Documents, 
Nos. 4, 6, 21 ; Elliot, Debates, I, 85-116; Washington, Writings (Ford 
edition), IX, 174-176, 192-194; X, 201-202, 274-279. 

Secondary Accounts. Fiske, Critical Period of American History, 
64-216; Channing, History, III, chaps, xiii-xv, xviii ; Jameson, Consti- 
tutional Conventions, sees. 125-162 ; Roosevelt, Winning of the West, III, 
chap, iii; Hinsdale, Old Northwest, 192-279, 345-350; Wilson, Ameri- 
can People, III, 24-60; McMaster, United States, I, 103-416, 503-524; 
Sumner, Robert Morris, 53-138; Morse, Thomas J ejfer son, 122-152; 
Alexander Hamilton, I, 64-154; Hunt, James Madison, chap. v. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. Organization of New State Govern- 
ments. 2. The Debate upon the Articles of Confederation. 3. The 
Western Land Claims. 4. Sectional Diflerences in the Confederation. 
5. Robert Morris. 6. The Movement toward the West. 7. The 
Mississippi Problem. 



CHAPTER XVII 
THE CONSTITUTION 

331. The Virginia Plan. James Madison and other gentle- 
men of Virginia, before the convention met, drew up a scheme 
of government which is known to-day as " The Virginia Plan." 
It was embodied in a series of resolutions and laid before the 
convention^ by Edmund Randolph (May 29). Like almost 
all other schemes considered by the convention, this was an 
adaptation of institutions already familiar to Americans. We 
have seen that the colonial legislatures were composed of two 
" chambers," an Assembly chosen by the people and a Council 
appointed in some other way. The latter acted as a check 
upon the former. One of the main features of the Virginia 
plan was a proposal to give the whole confederacy a supreme 
legislature of this type. It was to consist of a " lower " cham- 
ber, elected frequently, and an ''upper" chamber, the members 
of which were to be chosen at long intervals. The idea was 
that the upper chamber, with its long term of office, would 
be a steady, conservative body to restrain the more change- 
able lower chamber. Furthermore, the Virginians were tired 
of a confederacy j:hat gave a small state as much power as a 

^ The convention had been organized a few days previous with Washington 
in the chair. Its membership included most of the distinguished men of the 
country. Besides those mentioned in the present chapter, there were such 
famous leaders as Franklin and Alexander Hamilton. South Carolina sent the 
two Pinckneys. Roger Sherman of Connecticut and William Paterson of New 
Jersey were the champions of the small states. The brilliant Virginian, George 
Mason, and the great constitutional lawyer, James Wilson, of Pennsylvania 
were members. The full roll of the convention included fifty-five names, 
representing every state except Rhode Island. (See section 340, note.) 

The convention sat with closed doors and during the three months of its 
deliberations strange rumors got abroad. One was that it would recommend a 
constitutional monarchy. 

231 



232 AMERICAN HISTORY 

large state. They proposed to have each state represented 
in the supreme legislature in proportion to its importance. 
Naturally, this would give the large, rich states control of the 
confederacy. 

332. The New Jersey Plan. The delegates of the small 
states at once banded together and brought forward what is 
now known as " The New Jersey Plan." ^ It sketched a 
confederate government with a legislature of but one chamber 
in which each state should have equal representation. Roughly 
speaking, it was an attempt to revive the discredited system 
of the Articles of Confederation. 

333. Conflicts of the Convention. The champions of 
these conflicting plans fought over them so bitterly that more 
than once the convention seemed in danger of breaking up. 
However, all the members were loath to adjourn without 
agreeing upon something. They felt that the one hope for 
America was a general movement in favor of some sort of new 
system of government. Whenever they were on the point of 
giving up in despair, a fresh realization of the importance of 
their task put new spirit into them and they made another 
attempt to come to an understanding with each other. 

At length, chiefly through suggestions made by Roger 
Sherman of Connecticut, the convention hit upon a com- 
promise. It was agreed that there should be two chambers, 
or " houses," and that representation in the lower house should 
be proportionate to population, but that each state should 
have equal representation in the upper house, and that both 
must agree in order to enact laws. This was the so-called 
" Connecticut compromise." 

334. The Three-Fifths Compromise. The Connecticut 
compromise having been accepted, the question arose : 
What is meant by " population "? Does the word cover all 
inhabitants, or only free inhabitants? Some Northern men 

* Still a third complete scheme was the Pinckney plan, drawn up by Charles 
Pinckney of South Carolina. The original manuscript has been lost, but it seems 
to have anticipated many of the features at last agreed upon. 



THE CONSTITUTION 233 

replied that it should cover only free people, and that in 
counting population for purposes of representation slaves 
should be ignored. This would give the North a larger 
representation than the South. A South Carolina delegate 
replied that this was a polite way of telling South Carolina 
she was not wanted. 

Bitter contention ensued. One side argued that govern- 
ment should represent people only — the out-and-out demo- 
cratic idea — and that slaves, being property, should not be 
counted any more than horses. However, few people at that 
time were ready for out-and-out democracy. They felt that 
a rich community deserved to have more representatives 
than a poor one. Representation according to population 
seemed a good thing to them because it was a rough-and- 
ready way of determining the relative importance of communi- 
ties, not only in numbers but in wealth. 

In this connection, also, the question of taxation came up. 
Ought not a state to share the cost of maintaining the con- 
federacy in proportion to its power to pay? Should not a 
rich community bear a large part of the cost, whether its 
number of voters was large or small? The issue was upon 
the vital question whether population or property is the true 
basis of representation. At last, after long discussion and 
some threatening, a compromise was effected. It was agreed 
that representation and direct taxes should both be appor- 
tioned among the states in proportion to population, but that 
in taking the count a slave should be rated as three fifths of 
one unit. In this way a system of classifying the states ac- 
cording to population was curiously blended with a system of 
classification by property. This is known as the " three-fifths 
compromise." 

335. The Navigation Problem. The next important dis- 
agreement in the convention divided its members into three 
groups. Two of the three combined against the third and 
voted it down. The Virginia statesmen — in the main so 
influential — were this time completely defeated. 



234 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



As the apportionment of representatives according to popu- 
lation would give to the seven states north of Maryland thirty- 
five representatives and to the six remaining states only 
thirty, the Northern states would thus have a majority of 
the votes in both houses of the supreme legislature. If it 
were made possible to enact laws by a mere majority of the 
legislature, any measure on which the seven Northern states 
agreed could be made law no matter how detrimental it 
might be to the six states of the South. These Northern 
states already had one great interest in common. This was 
commerce. Their interests and those of the agricultural South 
might easily become hostile. Therefor-e, said the Virginians, 
let us compel them, in order to pass navigation acts, to secure 
the support of at least a part of the South. To this end, the 
Virginians proposed that a navigation act should not become 
law unless it received two thirds of the vote of the supreme 
legislature. 

336. The Navigation Compromise. Had the Virginians 
been able to force the issue on this question alone, they might 
have carried the day. But, unfortunately for them, there was 
another point on which they had still more uncompromising 
views. They disbelieved in slavery and were determined 
enemies of the African slave trade. On this point they en- 
countered opp>osition from the Carolinians. While the pro- 
posal to require a two-thirds vote on navigation acts set the 
North against the Virginians, their proposal to abolish the 
slave trade with Africa set against them the brilliant and in- 
fluential delegates from South Carolina. Between these latter 
and certain Northern delegates a " deal " was arranged. The 
Carolinians agreed to unite with the Northerners in vot- 
ing down the opposition of Virginia on the question of 
navigation acts, while the Northerners promised to support 
the Carolinians and vote down Virginia's opposition to the 
slave trade. Thus there was carried over the heads of the 
Virginians, by a coalition of extreme North with extreme 
South, a compromise providing that navigation acts might 



THE CONSTITUTION 235 

be passed by a bare majority of the supreme legislature and 
that the African slave trade should continue unhindered until 
1808.^ This was the " navigation compromise." At the 
time it was scornfully called a " bargain." 

337. The President and the Electoral College. One feature 
of the new government which appears most natural to us to- 
day was accepted only after much hesitation. This was the of- 
fice of President. All the colonies were familiar with the office 
of royal governor, the king's representative who exercised prac- 
tically the power of a constitutional king. When it was pro- 
posed to have such an officer for the whole confederation, there 
was genuine dread that his election might be the first step 
toward a revival of monarchy.- But the advocates of such an 
office were sufficiently numerous to carry their point. How- 
ever, they were not willing to trust his election to the mass of 
the people ; so, for once, they stepped outside their experience 
and instead of adopting something already familiar made an 
entirely new thing — the Electoral College. It was decided 
that each state, every four years, should choose electors, 

1 The backbone of the "deal" was formed by the four states of South Carolina, 
Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. The two propositions, 
the navigation acts and the slave trade, were voted upon separately. On each 
point the coalition won over enough other states, though not the same ones 
each time, to put its measure through. 

^ It is imperative to insist on the fact that the men of 1787 took the institu- 
tions they were familiar with and adapted them to new uses. They invented 
out of hand scarcely anything. Therefore, we must bear in mind that with the 
reorganization of the empire in 1696 the general principles of internal govern- 
ment became fixed and continued so for near a century. Each American state 
remained during this period an approximate copy of the British state as it was 
about 1700, and although the British state changed its structure during this 
period, the American states did not. Thus the foundation of the new govern- 
ment set up in 1789 was the British system as Americans had conceived it 
during the eighteenth century. A great factor in preserving their conception 
intact was the brilliant summing up of the old British system by the French 
jurist Montesquieu, whose famous treatise, "The Spirit of Laws," had great 
popularity in America. The new office of President, as originally conceived, 
was but a republican form of the old office of constitutional king familiar to 
all Americans not only in theory but in practice through the king's proxy, 
the colonial governor. 



236 AMERICAN HISTORY 

the same number as its senators and representatives together, 
and that these electors should choose whom they wished for 
President, We shall see later what singular results came from 
this peculiar institution. 

338. The Fundamental Disagreement. There remains 
to be made plain the fundamental disagreement underlying 
all the others. Even in 1787 there were two conceptions of 
the nature of the central government. At the very opening 
of the convention the question came up as to what should be 
the nature of the proposed new government, whether " na- 
tional " or " confederate." The Virginia plan described the 
proposed government as " national." There was violent ob- 
jection to the word. It implied that each state was to give 
up its sovereign authority over its own people ; that all the 
states were to merge and disappear in one great new state. 
So intense was the feeling on this point that we marvel now 
how the two sides ever came to an understanding. Finally the 
word " national " was omitted. But no other adjective was 
put in its place. Whether the nationalists had been defeated, 
or had merely yielded the word while really carrying their 
point, remained to be seen.^ 

339. The Vague Compromise. In various connections 
during the progress of the convention, the question reappeared. 
Again and again it was made plain that on this point different 
groups of delegates were irreconcilable. Gradually they 
reached a tacit understanding that this matter would have to 
be dropped. There was no possibility of agreeing on any 
one term, either " national " or " confederate," as a descrip- 

* This omission of Ihe word without a settlement of the issue was character- 
istic of the convention. On these general questions of political theory neither 
side would consent to a positive statement acceptable to the other. Conse- 
quently the text of the Constitution, as finally adopted, did not state whether 
the central government was "national" or "confederate." The Virginia plan 
declared that "a national government ought to be established." This declara- 
tion was accepted by the convention, May 30. Subsequently (June 20) the 
word "national" was struck out and the convention resolved that 
"the government of the United States ought to consist of " certain enumerated 
departments. 



THE CONSTITUTION 237 

tion of the new government. Nevertheless, on this funda- 
mental question a vague kind of compromise was effected. 

At length, after long discussion, three tilings were agreed upon 
by which it was thought the dispute concerning the exact na- 
ture of the government was happily shelved. First, the con- 
vention deliberately specified certain kinds of legislation which 
the states were to turn over to the central government. Sec- 
ond, there was instituted a system of federal courts which 
were to decide, in all cases involving the central government, 
what laws were binding : that is, whether the enactments of 
the central government were such as it was allowed to make, 
and whether any given state enactment was in contradiction 
of the agreement to put certain matters under the control 
of Congress. Third, the central government was to have 
power to execute its enactments through its own military 
power without asking leave of a state. As a sort of supplement 
to all this, the central government was given the further 
privilege of laying indirect taxes.^ 

340. The Text of the Constitution. After all the provisions 
for a new scheme of government had been arranged to the satis- 
faction of a majority of the convention, the memoranda 
defining them were turned over to a committee on style in 
which the chief man was Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania. 
A formal document embodying these provisions, also many 
others less crucial and entitled " Constitution of the United 
States," was drawn up by the committee and laid before the 
convention. A report to the Continental Congress endorsing 
this " constitution " and recommending its adoption by the 
states was signed by thirty-nine delegates,^ September 17, 1787. 

1 An indirect tax is one that is not incurred except by some specific action of 
the person paying it. For example, customs are paid only by persons importing 
goods from abroad. However, the people who buy these goods pay an in- 
crease in price because of the tax; thus, they really pay the tax, but pay it 
indirectly. The importance of indirect taxation was not appreciated in 1787. 
It has turned out to be adequate to the entire support of the central govern- 
ment, which has thus become wholly independent of the states financially. 

2 Several of the original fifty-five had withdrawn. Three refused to sign. 
(See section 331, note.) 



238 AMERICAN HISTORY 

341. What the Convention Did. The convention had 
accomplished two things. Besides devising a new scheme 
of government, it had formed a pohtical party. When the 
delegates, headed by Washington, put their names to the 
Constitution, they were also signing a political platform. 
They went out from the convention to begin a political cam- 
paign. Each was to become, in his own locality, the center 
of a vigorous contest to enforce upon the country the views 
of the majority of the convention. They were resolved, 
standing together, to introduce a new chapter in American 
history. 

342. Ratification. The Constitution provided that as soon 
as it was ratified by nine states, it should at once go into 
force among those nine. Everywhere the question of rati- 
fication gave rise to heated discussions. Many objections 
were raised, some frivolous, some farsighted. Not a few 
people foresaw that the new government might some day 
so overtop the states as practically to reduce them to prov- 
inces. Patrick Henry vehemently besought Virginia not to 
ratify. On the other hand, three great friends of the Consti- 
tution, Hamilton, Madison, and John Jay, took thought 
how they could meet this opposition. The result was a 
series of essays, written by these three and known collectively 
as " The Federalist," which argued the case in favor of the 
Constitution with consummate skill, and had wide influence. 

One by one the states held conventions and ratified the Con- 
stitution. Delaware was the first, December 7, 1787. Penn- 
sylvania and New Jersey ratified the same year. The ninth 
state was New Hampshire, which ratified June 21, 1788. 
Eleven states ratified before the end of 1788. However, 
when the first Electoral College was chosen, in January, 1789, 
two states had not yet ratified. North Carolina did so in 
November, 1789 ; but little Rhode Island remained a separate 
republic until May, 1790. 

343. The American Bill of Rights. The discussions over 
ratifying the Constitution revealed a curious oversight. 



THE CONSTITUTION 239 

The framers had become so deeply engrossed in questions of a 
strictly federal nature that they had forgotten other things of 
even greater importance. As ratified by the states, the 
Constitution did not contain any guarantee of those final 
rights of Englishmen, to possess which had been the aim of 
the Revolution. On all sides went up the demand to have 
these fundamental principles of Anglo-Saxon political freedom 
incorporated in the Constitution. The oversight of the con- 
vention was generally admitted, and there was tacit agree- 
ment that Congress should immediately take steps to correct it. 
The Constitution provides that it may be amended by con- 
sent of three fourths of the states. In its first session Con- 
gress considered some four hundred proposed amendments, 
and compacted them into twelve, of which ten were promptly 
ratified by the states. They form a bill of rights on which 
the political freedom of the citizens of the United States is 
based. As time passes, and the working of the federal system 
becomes a matter of course, these guarantees of personal liberty, 
which sum up the fruits of the Revolution, appear, more and 
more conspicuously, the live part of the great document. 
Several of the ten amendments form together a reiteration 
of the great basal principles of the ancient law of England, 
such as the right of an accused person " to be confronted with 
the witnesses against him," and the security of all men against 
being "deprived of fife, liberty, or property, without due 
process of law " ; and others equally fundamental. Two 
amendments were designed to clarify certain points as to 
the Constitution itself. Four of the ten are monuments of 
certain great events with which we are familiar. The struggle 
of the colonies against the removal of accused persons to Eng- 
land for trial (section 249) gives especial point to the Sixth 
Amendment, which guarantees to all accused persons '' a 
pubHc trial by an impartial jury of the state and district 
wherein the crime shall have been committed." The struggle 
against the Quartering Act (section 239) comes again to mind 
as we read in the Third Amendment that " no soldier shall in 



240 AMERICAN HISTORY 

time of peace be quartered in any house without the consent 
of the owner." The Fourth Amendment is a memorial of the 
opposition to Writs of Assistance (section 236) providing that 
no house may be searched except under a warrant " partic- 
ularly describing the place to be searched and the person 
or thing to be seized." That long and illustrious struggle 
for the freedom of the mind which was the first note in Ameri- 
can history reached its final expression in the First Amend- 
ment : " Congress shall make no law respecting an estabHsh- 
ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; 
or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the 
right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the 
government for a redress of grievances." 

Selections from the Sources. Ferrand, Records of the Federal Conven- 
tions, 1, II; Elliot, Debates, I, II; Hart, Contemporaries, III, 60-75; 
Federalist, Nos. 41-48. 

Secondary Accounts. W. M. Meigs, Growth of the Constitution; 
McLaughlin, Confederation and Constitution, chaps, xi-xvi; Wilson, 
American People, 111,60-98; Cambridge Modern History, VII, 243-304; 
Channing, History, III, 494-527; Davis, Confederate Government, I, 
86-103; FiSKE, Critical Period, 222-345; Hunt, James Madison, 108- 
160; HosMER, Samuel Adams, 392-401; Morse, Alexander Hamilton, 
T, 238-375; Tyler, Patrick Henry, 279-301 ; Rowland, George Mason, 
n, chaps, iv, v; Stevens, War between the States, I, 116-147, 465-486; 
II, 21-24; NoTT, The Mystery of the Pinckney Draft. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. The Virginia Plan. 2. The New 
Jersey rian. 3. The Slruggle to have the New Government described 
as "National." 4. The Specific Compromises. 5. The Vague Com- 
promise. 6. Opposition to Ratification (for bibliography, see Channing 
Hart, and Turner, "Guide," 341-343)- 7- "The Federalist" and its 
Authors. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE UNITED STATES IN 1789 

344. General Conditions. In the forty years during which 
the Americans were drifting away from the mother country, 
their social life had not greatly changed. American conditions 
in 1789 were still much as they had been in the middle of 
the eighteenth century (see Chapter XII) ; almost all the 
people still depended on one of two occupations, trading^ and 
agriculture. With the exception of shipbuilding there were 
no manufactures that counted for much. Almost all the 
manufactured articles and practically all the luxuries came 
from Europe. There were hardly any steam engines in 
America and no power machinery.^ The mills were run by 
water. The roads were few and ill made. There were no 
good roads across the wide stretch of forest and mountain 
separating the East from the West.^ However, the need of them 
was scarcely felt in 1789. Most of the four million Ameri- 
cans^ of that day lived comparatively near the sea. Nine 
tenths of them Hved outside of cities.^ 

1 Recently trade with the Orient had sprung up, and Pennsylvania was 
exporting flour to Europe. 

2 In 1790 spinning machinery was brought from England to Rhode Island. 
In 1795 sugar was made in New Orleans. The invention of the cotton gin in 
1793 revolutionized the cotton industry. Experiments in steam navigation 
were made by John Fitch on the Delaware in 1786, and by James Ramsay on 
the Potomac in 1787. These and other inventions soon worked great changes 
in American life. 

^ The first wagon track into the "Far West" was the "Wilderness Road" to 
Kentucky, opened in 1795. 

* The census of 1790 showed 3,160,000 whites; 80,000 Indians; 60,000 free 
negroes; 700,000 slaves. Practically all the whites were of English descent, 
excepting 200,000 Scotch-Irish, some Germans, a few Dutch, and French. 

^The chief cities in 1790 were Philadelphia, 42,000; New York, 33,000; 
Boston, 18,000; Charleston, 16,000; Baltimore, 14,000. 

241 



242 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



345. " Merchant Princes." The great figures in social 
hfe were the merchant and the landowner. A noted specimen 
of the former was John Hancock of Boston. His stately 
house was surrounded by gardens and included a ballroom 
sLxty feet long. The furniture and wall decorations had 
been brought from England ; there were quantities of silver 
engraved with the Hancock arms ; the owner drove about in 







::^JF:''^;:. 



^'r^^^m^jiM-- 



WASHIXGTON'S HOME, MOUNT VERNON 

a stately " chariot," or family carriage. He was very much 
of a dandy and delighted in suits of crimson velvet with white 
silk embroidered waitcoasts. This great personage had ships 
on every sea, traded with many countries, and did a large 
banking business both at home and abroad. 

346. The Great Estates. However, with all his wealth 
Hancock owned very little land. In the North, land was not, 
as a rule, a " good investment." ^ In sharp contrast the 



* An exception to this was New York. There the descendants of the patrooni 
still found it profitable to own great estates along the Hudson. 



THE UNITED STATES IN 1789 243 

best investment in the South was land. From Maryland 
southward all the prosperous men owned great estates. 
Their country houses and the contents of them were not unlike 
the great houses in Boston, but the Ufe lived in them was quite 
different. The owner spent much of his time on horseback, 
sometimes riding about to view his slaves at work, sometimes 
hunting, sometimes on a journey to visit other " plantations," 
— as these large estates were called. The mistress of the 
house was kept busy training, directing, caring for a small 
army of slaves. Many of these great country houses of the 
end of the eighteenth century still stand. A striking instance 
is Mulberry " Castle " on a bluff above the Cooper River in 
South Carolina. It is surrounded by huge live oaks and 
looks out over long stretches of low-lying rice fields. 

347. Types of North and South. These two figures, the 
merchant prince and great planter, were not met with in the 
same region.^ Already there was the beginning of a " North " 
and a " South," having different interests. We shall see as 
we proceed how, step by step, the task of legislating agreeably 
to both sections became more and more difficult ; and at last 
impossible. 

348. Religion. However, this did not become apparent 
until long afterward. In 1789 the similarities of the sections 
were more in evidence than their dissimilarities. Upon many 
important matters most Americans from New England to 
Georgia thought and felt very much alike. To begin with 
the great matter of religion,^ almost every one was a Protes- 
tant Christian and practically everybody held the Hberal views 

^ Excepting always the feudal lords in New York. 

2 Several changes in the religious situation had taken place since 1750. 
Following the war, the Anglican Church in the United States separated from the 
mother Church and became the Protestant Episcopal. Its first general con- 
vention was held in 1785. The American Wesleyans had organized as the 
American Methodist Episcopal Church in 1784. In 1789 the Roman Catholic 
Church established a general organization for all the United States with the 
Bishop of Baltimore as primate. The same year the first general assembly of 
American Presbyterians was held. Though there were synagogues in the 
various cities, there was no general organization of American Hebrews, 



244 AMERICAN HISTORY 

of religious freedom/ expressed in the First Amendment 
to the Constitution : " Congress shall make no law respecting 
an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise 
thereof." 

349. Social Classes. The social system generally was 
strikingly unlike anything in Europe, strikingly different 
from America to-day. In theory, it was democratic ; in 
practice, it was a curious mixture of democracy and aris- 
tocracy. The European traveler who did not understand 
America was astounded by what he took for evidence of 
extreme social equality. Often he saw innkeepers sit down 
at table with their guests. He saw men of wealth talking 
with mechanics, and not assuming superiority. However, 
beneath the surface of social life there was a sharp separation 
of classes.' This superficial equality had not yet destroyed 
the general feeling, inherited from England, that the "upper" 
classes should rule things. In every part of the country there 
was a local aristocracy which controlled the wealth and edu- 
cation of the community and looked upon itself as having an 
innate right to direct the state. John Adams expressed the 
feeling of these classes when he said, " The rich and the well 
born, and the able, must be separated from the mass and 
placed by themselves." But nowhere did this class have 
any definite pohtical power except what it owed to its own 
wits. Though these men were born leaders, they could re- 
main leaders only by persuading the masses to accept their 
lead. As yet, the masses were willing to do so. Thus, for a 
time, America had the rare spectacle of a " ruling class," 
cheerfully followed by the " masses," but not imposed on 
them by law. This class made no parade of leadership, 
although enjoying the fruits of it.^ 

' In some of the states, compulsory support of religion was not finally done 
away with until well into the nineteenth centurj'. But the movement had be- 
gun and the severity of feeling toward persons not members of the local state 
Church had already passed away. 

' Symptoms of a different state of things, in which the political leadership 
was to pass into the hands of organizations, appeared as early aa 1790, when the 



THE UNITED STATES IN 1789 



245 



35O0 Education. The education of well-to-do Americans 
was of the old-style English sort. For example, Alexander 
Graydon/ who went to school in Philadelphia, " read Latin 
fables, learned Ancient history, fought the other boys, was 
flogged by his teacher, and when fourteen years old had 
read Ovid, Virgil, Cassar, and Sallust and was reading Horace 
and Cicero." From such schools the American of 1789 
passed to one of the small colleges ^ of his own land, or in 
rare cases went abroad. Sometimes 
he pursued advanced studies by 
himself with the aid of tutors. 

Girls received little formal educa- 
tion, and were never sent to college. 
All girls of the upper classes were 
taught to play the harpsichord and 
to embroider. Nevertheless, Amer- 
ican women, in 1789, as in fact 
throughout our history, were a great 
power in all phases of life. In sev- 
eral ways social conditions forced 
even the richest women to be 
active workers. Perhaps the most 
obvious illustration is the necessity 
of the southern lady to be a manager and ruler over her slaves. 
In New England there was an effect of social conditions still 
more imperative. The men often went to sea in command of 
their ships. Their wives, left at home for many months, were 
the sole managers of the household and all its affairs. These 




WASHINGTON'S BOOK-PLATE 



famous Tammany Society was formed in New York. Still, for some time after, 
two great rival families, the Clintons and the Livingstons, controlled New York 
politics. 

' See his "Memoirs" for a classic picture of the times. 

2 Several new institutions came into existence toward the end of the century. 
In 1779 the University of Pennsylvania was founded; in 1795 the University 
of North Carolina. "The first professional schools in the United States were 
two medical schools founded in Philadelphia and Boston" about this time. 
(See section 542.) 



246 AMERICAN HISTORY 

two instances are but the most conspicuous of many. All 
American conditions, backed up in the main by American 
sentiment, tended to make the woman of the family as im- 
portant a personage as the man. 

351. Overshadowing of Foreign Thought. Intellectually 
speaking, the Americans of 1789 were still under the shadow 
of Europe. They had not begun to produce writers and 
thinkers who were entirely their own. In some Americans, 
to be sure, there was a certain quality that had not come to 
them from Europe. We feel it in the writings of Franklin. 
In some ways, perhaps, it is still more apparent in one of the 
chief figures of 1789, Thomas Jefferson. Both of these had a 
point of view which no European at that time could quite 
understand. But in imaginative Hterature, the Americans 
were sadly lacking.^ 

352. Human Feeling. In one respect America nobly re- 
flected the best sentiment of Europe. Previous to this time 
laws had been characterized chiefly by their barbarity, and 
prisons, as we saw in the case of Oglethorpe's reform, were 
abodes of horror. A movement to put an end to all that 
spread from England to America. It broadened into a general 
sympathy with inferiors, whether criminals or not, and at last 
produced the humanitarian spirit of the nineteenth century. 
In America it strengthened the disHke for slavery. In 1789 
slavery no longer existed in five of the states : Massachusetts, 
New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Pennsyl- 
vania. There was a common behef that it would soon die out 
everywhere. 

Selections from (he Sources. Hart, Contemporaries, III, Nos. 10-36; 
Alexander Graydox, Memoirs of his own Time; Brissot de Warville, 
New Travels in the United States Performed in 1788; Caldwell, Survey 
of American History, 132-142 ; Browne, GirVs Life Eighty Years Ago. 

'There was an increasing demand for reading matter, and two "literary" 
magazines came into existence, the Universal Asylum and Columbian Magazine 
of Philadelphia and the Boston Magazine. The first daily newspaper was 
the Pennsylvania Packet, founded in 1784. 



THE UNITED STATES IN 1789 247 

Secondary Accounts. Coman, Industrial History of the United States, 
1 16-164; Channing, History, III, 552-573; Hart, Formation of the 
Union, sees. 55, 70-72, 79; Walker, Making of the Nation, 64-72; 
FiSKE, Critical Period, 50-89; Rhodes, United States, I, 1-12, 221-241; 
Adams, United States, I, 1-184; McMaster, United States, I, 1-102, 
423-436; II, 1-24, 57-66, 158-165, 538-582; III, 514-516; V, 268-284; 
Locke, Antislavery, 88-1 11, 166-197; Morse, Thomas Jeferson, 36- 
50 ; Hunt, James Madison, 67-86 ; Ward, Bishop White, 1-89 ; Earle, 
Stage Coach and Tavern Days; Ravenel, Charleston, the Place and the 
People. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. The Beginnings of American Manu- 
factures. 2 Social Life at the Close of the Eighteenth Century. 3. 
Evidence that already there was a "North" and a "South." 4. Political 
Methods of 1789. 5. The Beginnings of American Commerce. 



CHAPTER XrX 

THE NEW REGIME 
I. INTRODUCTORY LEGISLATION 

353. Organization of the Government. Washington was 
unanimously elected first President of the United States.^ 
John Adams was chosen vice president. On April 30, 1789, 
Washington took the oath of office, standing in the balcony 
of the Federal Building in New York, which was the tempo- 
rary capital of the Union. 

Both houses of Congress were then in session.^ They went 
to work at once, establishing offices and fixing salaries. The 
president was given what seemed at that time an enormous 
salary, $25,000.^ Four executive departments were created to 
assist the President. These were the Departments of State, 
War, the Treasury, and the Post Office. Washington appointed 
to take charge of these departments the following secretaries : 
for the State Department, Thomas Jeflferson; for the War 
Department, Henry Knox; for the Treasury, Alexander 
Hamilton ; for the Post Office, Samuel Osgood. Before long 
he began asking the secretaries to confer with him in a body. 
The custom became fixed and led to our present system of 

1 There were sLxty-nine electors. Washington received sixty-nine votes. 
Adams received thirty-four. The remaining votes for vice president were 
distributed among ten other candidates. 

* The new Congress ought to have met the first Wednesday in March, but 
was slow in assembling. The House of Representatives organized April i, elect- 
ing Frederick Muhlenburg the first speaker. The Senate organized April 6. 

' The question also came up, how the President should be addressed. Wash- 
ington, who believed in form, wanted the title, "His Highness, the President of 
the United States of .\merica and Protector of their Liberties." But this 
did not suit the democratic temper of the time, .\fter long discussion, com- 
mon consent fixed the style of address as simply, "Mr. President." 

248 



THE NEW REGIME 



249 



cabinet meetings which make the cabinet a sort of high council 
assisting the President.^ 

The organization of the cabinet was followed by the establish- 
ment of a system of federal courts. John Jay was appointed 
the first Supreme Justice of the United States.^ 

354. First Sectional Clash. However, Congress was by 
no means unanimous in its desires. Perhaps its most sig- 




FEDERAL BUILDING, WALL STREET, NEW YORK 

nificant debate was that upon the tariff act of 1789. Al- 
ready those Americans who were interested in manufactures 
had turned to Congress for assistance, and their petitions 
brought out a sentiment in favor of protecting " our infant 

' Other departments have been added since. The cabinet to-day consists 
of the four named above, the Attorney-general, and secretaries for the Navy, 
the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and Labor. The Postmaster-general 
was not included in the cabinet imtil 1829. 

2 One of his most famous cases was Chisholm vs. Georgia in 1793. In this 
case the court held that an individual could sue a state. The country at large 
disliked this idea. Therefore, the Eleventh Amendment was added to the 
Constitution. It forbids suits in the federal courts brought against a state by 
citizens of another state. 



250 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



industries." In Pennsylvania, especially, the protection 
sentiment was strong. On the other hand, certain South 
Carolinians declared the scheme to be oppressive. Here was 
that clash of interests between the mercantile states and the 
agricultural states which Madison had feared (section 335). 
But on this first occasion differences were soon adjusted. A 
tariff act passed both houses and was signed by Washington. 
It stated that one of its purposes was the " encouragement 

and protection of manufactures." 
355. The "Deal" over the 
Capital. Two other matters were 
combined and settled by a famous 
political " deal." The deal grew 
out of a report submitted by 
Hamilton for the purpose of set- 
tling the debt of the old Confedera- 
tion, to which, of course, the new 
Union was heir. Most of Hamil- 
ton's plan was accepted by Con- 
gress.^ But on one point Congress 
seemed unlikely ever to agree with 
him. He wanted the federal gov- 
ernment to assume the debts con- 
tracted by the various states during the Revolution. It was 
at once objected that some states owed less than others and 
that if Congress assumed the debts, it practically divided the 
total evenly among the whole people. Thus a state with a 
small debt would, in the long run, pay more than if it paid its 
debt in its own way.- Congress was so closely divided on this 

* Congress concurred at once in his proposal to pay the foreign debt in full, 
but it dissented, at first, from his proposition to pay in full the domestic debt, 
on the ground that the claims had been bought up by speculators. Hamilton 
argued that the most important thing just then was to create financial 
confidence in the new government. At length. Congress concurred. 

* Here, again, was that difiicult problem of making federal legislation bear 
evenly on all parts of the country. In this case southern states, generally, 
opposed the assumption of state debts by Congress, while northern states 
favored it. 




CHAIR USED BY WASHINGTON 
AT HIS INAUGURATION 



THE NEW REGIME 



251 



subject that the opposition to Hamilton had a majority of 
but two votes. Hamilton then effected his " deal." 

Congress was also considering where the capital should be 
located. Virginia and Pennsylvania were the favorite local- 
ities. As yet, however, it was impossible to get a majority 
to vote for either. Hamilton solved the problem by offering 
to persuade his followers to vote for a southern capital on 
condition that his financial scheme be passed through Congress. 
This proposal induced certain _ . .. 

southern members, hitherto 
opposed to Hamilton, to 
change sides. Thus both 
measures were carried. The 
state debts were assumed and 
the site of the capital was 
fixed upon the Potomac.^ 

356. Hamilton's Policy. 
The aim of the secretary of 
the treasury was to teach 
men to rely upon the central 
government as their chief 
friend in all respects, but 
especially in business. He 
also wanted to bring to the 
aid of the government all 
the moneyed classes. Therefore, he proposed a plan for 
establishing a great financial corporation to be known as 
the Bank of the United States. The purpose of the bank 
should be to keep the country supplied with ready money, 
to issue notes, to make loans that would aid in developing 
business, and in general to lead the country to depend upon 
it, arid on the government behind it, for the maintenance of 




FREDERICK MUHLENBURG 

First Speaker of the National House of 
Representatives. 



1 A "District of Columbia" was laid off ten miles square, part in Maryland, 
part in Virginia. There the city of Washington was located. Until the city 
could be built, Philadelphia was to serve as capital. Eventually Congress 
ceded back to Virginia the part of the district south of the Potomac. 




THE UNITED STATES IN 1790 

Note. Vermont was separate from New York ; it became a state in 1701. Kentucky 
was preparing to separate from Virginia ; it became a state in 1792. 



252 



THE NEW REGIME 253 

prosperity. It was to have a capital stock of ten million 
dollars, the government to own one fifth. 

357. Washington as Referee. The friends of Hamilton 
passed through Congress a bill estabUshing such a bank. But 
there was intense opposition/ and Washington was implored to 
veto it. Before taking action, however, he called for written 
opinions from the two great men of his cabinet, Hamilton 
and Jefferson. The latter drew up an elaborate argument to 
show that Congress had no right to estabhsh such an institution. 
He developed what has been known ever since as the " strict 
constructionist " view of the Constitution. That is, he argued 
that we should hold Congress strictly to account not to use any 
power not granted to it in so many words. With great skill, 
he argued that none of the powers granted to Congress in- 
cluded the right to establish a moneyed corporation like the 
proposed bank. Hamilton, with equal argumentative skill, 
developed what is known to-day as the " broad construction '' 
principle, reasoning that Congress possessed not only the 
powers definitely granted to it, but, in addition, all those logi- 
cally resulting from the granted powers. These latter he held 
to be " implied powers," and among these he found the right 
to establish his bank. Washington accepted Hamilton's rea- 
soning and signed the bill under which the Bank of the 
United States was established (1791). 

358. First Coinage Act. Another great financial measure 
was passed through Congress the next year. It provided for 
a national mint and authorized our present system of coinage. 
The Spanish dollar was accepted as the standard of value. 
It was also provided that fifteen ounces of silver should be 
considered equal in value to one ounce of gold.^ 

' Here again, the difference in the interests of the mercantile and agricultural 
sections was revealed. The North was almost solid for the bank, the South was 
largely opposed. 

^ In 1834 the proportion was made sixteen to one. The act of 1792 set up 
free coinage of both metals, which was continued until 1873. 



254 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



II. PROBLEMS OF THE FRONTIER 

359. The Admission of Vermont. The local conditions of 
the northern and western frontiers were forced upon the at- 
tention of Congress. To the northeast, within the territory 
ceded by England, was a community not yet recognized as a 
state, but not certainly included in any other state. This was 
Vermont (section 326). It had a considerable population 
and its people had done good service in the Revolution. 
Congress decided to recognize Vermont as a state and in 1791 
it was admitted to the Union. 

360. The Border Indians. Farther to the west there was 
trouble with the Indians. Indian war began in the Northwest 
Territory the year the Union was formed and in 1791 an 
American army commanded by General St. Clair was de- 
stroyed at Fort Recovery. For a time the situation in the 
West was desperate; but Washington sent out General 

Anthony Wayne, who broke 
the Indian power at the 
Falls of the Maumee. By 
the Treaty of Greenville, 
in 1795, the Indians gave 
up all southern and eastern 
Ohio. 

361. The State of Ohio. 
The region thus surrendered 
was quickly settled. Two 
distinct streams of emigra- 
tion flowed westward and 
blended to form the pres- 
ent state of Ohio. One of 
these streams came from Virginia, the other from New 
England.^ We have seen that Virginia had reserved for her- 

1 Ohio, settled both from New England and Virpinia, was the meeting point 
of streams of emigration that, until then, had avoided each other. Tn this 
fact lay the promise of a new phase of American life. 




THE NORTHWEST, 1802 



THE NEW REGIME 255 

self, when ceding her Northwestern claims to the confedera- 
tion, a great tract known as the " mihtary bounty lands " 
(section 312). These were now opened to settlement. Con- 
necticut, similarly, had retained a great tract called the 
" western reserve." Most of it was transferred in 1795 to 
the Connecticut Land Company. General Moses Cleveland 
went West and founded a post on Lake Erie, which is now the 
city of Cleveland. Other settlements were made at ChilH- 
cothe and Losantiville, now called Cincinnati. So rapid was 
this western movement that Ohio, which had but a handful 
of people in 1790, had nearly fifty thousand in 1800. In 
1803 it was admitted as a state. ^ 

362. On the Southwest Frontier. South of the Ohio, two 
regions demanded the attention of Congress. Kentucky in 
1790 had more than seventy thousand inhabitants, drawn 
chiefly from Virginia and the CaroHnas. During the first 
years of the Union there was such constant emigration to 
Kentucky that by 1800 the Kentuckians numbered two 
hundred twenty thousand. By that time, however, their 
country had become a state. It was admitted in 1792. 

363. Tennessee. There was still another western region 
with which Congress had to deal. We have seen that the 
state of Franklin (section 326) was organized by pioneers 
during the Revolution in what is now Tennessee. Afterward 
it became Washington County of North Carolina. Later 
North Carolina gave up its rule over these lands, which were 
then formed into the " Territory South of the Ohio River." 
Its population was already thirty-five thousand. In 1796 it 
was admitted to the Union as the state of Tennessee. 

364. On the Spanish Border. We have seen what excite- 
ment there was, during the confederation, over the navigation 
of the Mississippi (sections 316, 327) and how near it came 
to producing a Spanish war. The matter appeared to be 
settled by a treaty made in 1795. Spain granted the fre^ 
navigation of the Mississippi and accepted the line laid 

^ The region west of Ohio was organized in 1802 as the Territory of Indiana. 



256 AMERICAN HISTORY 

down in the British treaty of 1783 as the southern boundary 
separating the United States from the Spanish possessions. 

365. Mississippi Territory. The long contention with 
Georgia over its claim to western land (section 318) was also 
brought to an end. In 1798 Mississippi Territory was organ- 
ized, and four years later Georgia gave up all claim to any- 
thing west of its present western Une. 

366. The British Posts. There was one other frontier 
trouble. England still had garrisons at several points inside 
the territory of the United States and, in spite of the treaty 
of 1783, refused to withdraw these garrisons. Neither would 
the British government send a regular ambassador to the 
United States. This contemptuous disregard of the wishes 
of the Americans had a marked effect upon events to which 
we must now turn our attention. 



III. WASfflNGTON'S FOREIGN POLICY 

367. Original Conception of the Presidency. Our fathers 
intended the President to be a great ruler who should decide, 
in the last resort, what was best for the country. Once in 
ofhce, he was not to be bound by the will of the people who 
had elected him. Washington held this view of his own posi- 
tion. He felt he was head of the whole country and that the 
people had authorized him to use his judgment as to what 
course was best. His way of deahng with the bank ques- 
tion (section 357) was characteristic. He did not ask what 
the people wanted, but invited both sides to argue the mat- 
ter before him, and then decided it on his own responsibiUty. 

368. First Theory of the Cabinet. Having this view of his 
office, he had included in his cabinet men of different political 
principles. No two men could be farther apart in their 
ideas than the secretary of state and the secretary of the 
treasury. To-day, we could not imagine both of them in 
the same cabinet. It was possible for both to be in Washing- 
ton's cabinet only so long as Washington refused to take 



THE NEW REGIME 257 

sides, definitely, with either, but acted as a sovereign over 
both. Naturally, each tried to bring the President to his way 
of thinking. Their antagonism became so intense that Jeffer- 
son said they contended with each other in cabinet meetings 
" hke cocks in a pit." But could this go on? Could Washing- 
ton keep his detached sovereign position, or would he be forced 
by circumstances to ally himself with some political party 
and allow himself to be directed by its wishes? At bottom 
the question was whether the President of the United States 
should have the character of an elective sovereign, or the 
character of a party leader. 

369. Aristocracy versus Democracy. Had there been no call 
for the formation of parties, Washington might have kept the 
presidency on the lofty plane where he wished it to be. But 
already it was evident that political parties were inevitable. 
Hamilton and Jefferson were great figures in politics because 
each summed up in himself the whole belief of a numerous 
group of Americans. Hamilton stood for aristocracy; Jef- 
ferson for democracy. Hamilton despised the mass of the 
people. " Your people. Sir," said he, " is a great beast." 
His poHcy aimed at strengthening the upper classes, and at 
arresting those social forces which already were beginning to 
undermine their rule. Jefferson on the other hand, though 
born an aristocrat, had gone over to the side of the people. He 
loved France and had the deepest sympathy with those 
movements which were bringing on the French Revolution. 
He said that he and his followers " identified themselves with 
the people, have confidence in them, cherish and consider them 
as the most honest and safe, although not the most wise, de- 
pository of the public interest." Both men pushed their theo- 
ries to logical conclusions. Hamilton wanted a strong govern- 
ment that would not hesitate to use its powers and would 
steadily befriend the moneyed classes. Jefferson wanted to 
limit the power of the government as much as practicable 
and have no laws whatever for the benefit of any particular 
class. 



258 AMERICAN HISTORY 

370. First Political Struggle. As early as the second 
election for President, the followers of the two leaders acted 
like two political parties. There was no question about 
reelecting Washington, who again received every electoral 
vote, but there was a sharp fight over the vice presidency. 
Jefiferson and his friends supported George Clinton. Hamilton 
supported John Adams. Adams was elected. 

371. Foreign Complications. The relation of the two 
parties became further compHcated by a question of foreign 
poHcy. The treaty of 1778 (section 290) made it the duty of 
the United States, in case France became engaged in " defen- 
sive war," to protect her possessions in the West Indies. 
But that treaty was made with the French monarchy. In 1 792 
France became a republic ; soon after, Louis XVI was exe- 
cuted and war was declared against England and Spain. 
The French Republic then called upon the United States to take 
part in the war, and sent over an ambassador, Edmond Genet, 
to persuade the Americans to do so. While Genet was at sea, 
Washington debated with his cabinet whether the treaty 
of 1778 was still in force. 

372. Proclamation of Neutrality. Though Jefferson favored 
the French republic, and Hamilton was against it, both agreed 
that the French treaty did not apply to present conditions. 
Therefore Washington issued on April 22, 1793, a proclama- 
tion of neutraUty, stating that the United States would 
" pursue a conduct friendly and impartial towards the bel- 
ligerent powers." 

373. The Democratic Party. Meanwhile, Genet landed at 
Charleston. He was received with enthusiasm. The old 
friendship of America for France became the theme of much 
public speaking, and " Democratic " clubs were organized, 
modeled on the famous Jacobin Club of Paris. The followers 
of Jefferson joined these clubs and began to call themselves 
by the party name " Democrat." ^ Thus the Democratic 
party was born. 

' For the later history of the name, see sections 380, 451, 480. 




ALEXANDER HAMILTON 



THE NEW REGIME 



259 



374. The Federalist Party. Hamilton looked with con- 
tempt upon the Democratic movement. His aristocratic 
sympathies bhnded him to ail that was good in the French 
Revolution and made him oversensitive to all that was bad. 
And he thought that American interests were with England 
far more than with France. He and his followers now drew 
together in a confessed political party, advocating principles 
exactly the opposite of those of the Democrats. They ap- 
propriated as their party name the familiar term, " Federalist." 

375. A Crisis in Foreign Affairs. During 1793 the two 
parties. Democrats and FederaHsts, found plenty of cause 
for contention. The conduct of Genet was foolish in the 
extreme, and the Democrats had all they could do to apologize 
for him. In defiance of the proclamation he enlisted men for 
an expedition against New Orleans ; he fitted out a cruiser, 
the Petit De?nocrat, and, in spite of Jefferson's protest, sent 
her to sea. At last he tried to meddle in American politics. 
Toward the end of the year Washington demanded his recall 
and the French government ordered him home. 

It was now plain that the United States must come to an 
understanding with either France or England. Both powers 
ignored the proclamation of neutrahty and seized and plundered 
American ships on the high seas. As the chief maritime states 
of Europe had all become involved in the war, the United 
States formed the one important neutral trader, and each 
side was determined that the United States should not trade 
with its enemy. France seized American provision ships 
bound for EngHsh ports. England seized similar ships bound 
for French ports. To the American contention that " free 
ships make free goods " and that French property on an 
American ship was protected by the American flag, England 
refused to hsten. England further asserted that any neutral 
ship bound for a port she had declared blockaded was subject 
to confiscation. The United States repHed that " a blockade 
to be binding must be effective " : in other words, that neu- 
trals had the right to enter any port not actually closed by a 



26o AMERICAN HISTORY 

blockading squadron. England also advanced the claim that 
a neutral ship should not enter in time of war any port which 
was closed to it when the war began. ^ Therefore, because 
France opened her colonial ports to Americans after war was 
declared, England seized American vessels coming home 
from those ports. Finally, Enghsh warships overhauled 
American merchantmen and " impressed " — that is, forcibly 
carried away for service in their own navy — any British sub- 
jects found on board. Sometimes they did not distinguish be- 
tween Englishmen and Americans, and impressed citizens of 
the United States. 

376. Conflicting Party Claims. The two American parties 
held opposite views. The Democrats demanded a policy 
hostile to England and friendly to France. The FederaUsts 
wished to remain neutral and were hopeful that a satisfactory 
understanding with England could be reached. 

When a new Congress met at the close of 1793, the Federal- 
ists had a majority in the Senate, the Democrats in the House. 
It was plain that neither party would be satisfied until the 
President definitely took sides with one or the other. Through- 
out 1793 he had leaned more and more toward the policy of 
the Federahsts. Jefferson, in the cabinet meetings, had 
less and less influence. At last he resigned, and in January, 
1794, Washington appointed as his successor a Federahst, 
Edmund Randolph. 

377. The President as a Party Leader. During the re- 
mainder of his administration Washington allied himself 
with the Federahsts. In this way the attempt to have a 
sovereign President in America came to an end. Thereafter, 
Washington was a party leader, whom his enemies abused 
without mercy. In their vehemence they took leave both 
of good taste and of common sense. They nicknamed him 
" the stepfather of his country." They accused him of 

^ It must be remembered that many ports were at that time open to foreigners 
only by special favor. England herself excluded Americans from her West 
Indian ports. 



THE NEW REGIME 261 

incapacity during the Revolution. He was charged with 
embezzling the public funds and was threatened with im- 
peachment and assassination. Washington felt this injustice 
deeply. Even before it had reached its height, he broke out 
one day at a cabinet meeting, exclaiming that " he had never 
repented but once having slipped the moment of resigning his 
office, and that was every moment since, that ... he had 
rather be on his farm than to be emperor of the world, and yet 
they were charging him with wanting to be a king." 

IV. THE RULE OF THE FEDERALISTS 

378. The Jay Treaty. Washington accepted the Federalist 
policy of coming to terms with England, and appointed John 
Jay special envoy to accomplish it. After months of negotia- 
tion, Jay signed a treaty which Washington sent to the Senate ^ 
for ratification June 8, 1795. The Federalist Senate promptly 
ratified it, but when the Democrats heard what it contained 
they were fiercely indignant. Jay had not succeeded in 
getting England to abandon her claim to the " right of search " 
for the purpose of discovering runaway Englishmen on Ameri- 
can ships ; nor would England consent to let Americans trade 
with her West Indian possessions (section 321) except on 
unsatisfactory terms. Jay had also given up the principle 
that " free ships make free goods," and had promised to make 
compensation to British merchants who still held claims for 
American debts due in 1775. On the other hand, he had 
secured a pledge from England to withdraw the obnoxious 
garrisons from the frontier posts, to refer the question of her 
capture of American ships to a commission of arbitration,^ and 
to negotiate a commercial treaty with the United States. In 
the minds of the Democrats Jay had given more than he got. 
Great public meetings were held and the President was ex- 
horted not to sign the treaty. Seldom has an American Presi- 

^ The Constitution requires that treaties shall be ratified by a two-thirds 
vote of the Senate and signed by the President. 

2 Eventually England paid half a million dollars, assessed by this commission. 



262 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



dent faced such widespread disapproval of his course as Wash- 
ington did in 1795. But he beheved the treaty was the best 
that could be had and that any treaty was better than none. 
Therefore, in spite of the general indignation, he signed it. 

379, Washington's Farewell. About a year later Washing- 
ton withdrew from politics. He refused to be a candidate 
in the presidential election of 1796 and issued his celebrated 

Farewell Address to the 
American people, urging 
them to maintain their 
federal government, to put 
down party spirit, and to 
refrain from " permanent 
alliances with any portion 
of the foreign world." 

380. The Election of 
1796. A party battle over 
the presidency now fol- 
lowed. The Federalists 
were successful in the 
elections but, through a 
blunder in the Electoral 
College, lost part of their victory. All their electors voted for 
John Adams for President. For vice president, however, they 
scattered their votes. As every Democratic elector voted for 
Jefferson, his vote was second to that of Adams. ^ Thus, a 
Federahst became President while the vice president was a 
Democrat, or, as the party was now styled, a RepubUcan.^ 

1 This blunder of the Federalists led eventually to the Twelfth .Amendment 
to the Constitution. Four years later every elector voting for Jefferson took 
care to vote also for Burr, the candidate for vice president. Both having the 
same vote there was a technical tic. The Constitution provides that in case 
of a tie vote the House shall determine the matter. Though every one knew 
that Jefferson was the choice of his party, many Federalist representatives 
voted for Burr. Nevertheless, Jefferson was chosen. The Twelfth .Amend- 
ment in 1804 provided for separate votes for President and vice president. 

■ This change of name was due, in part, to certain events which took place in 
1794. In western Pennsylvania there were many small distillers. Hamilton 




JOHN .\DAMS 



THE NEW REGIME 263 

381. The X. Y. Z. Matter. As might be expected, the 
Federalists in coming to an understanding with England had 
created trouble with France. Adams found himself very 
soon on the verge of a French war. The American minister, 
C. C. Pinckney, was insulted at Paris, and the French navy 
seized American ships. Hoping to effect a settlement, Adams 
appointed a special commission, composed of Pinckney, 
John Marshall, and Elbridge Gerry, to treat with the French 
government. After a time Adams received dispatches from 
the envoys which led him to send a message to Congress declar- 
ing, " I will never send another minister to France without 
assurances that he will be received, respected and honored 
as becomes the representative of a great, free, powerful and 
widespread nation." 

What had so angered the President was an attempt to 
blackmail the envoys. Three men who were indicated in 
the dispatches as " X. Y. Z." had come to the envoys and 
informed them that they must pay down a quarter of a mil- 
lion dollars " for the pocket of the French Directory and 
Ministers." 

382. The Rage against France. When these facts became 
known in America there was a general outburst of anger against 
France. Congress declared the treaty of 1778 at an end. A 
Navy Department was organized with George Cabot of Massa- 
chusetts as its first secretary. A wave of war feeling swept 
the country. The courage of the President was praised in pop- 
ular songs composed for the occasion.^ The general cry was 
" Millions for defense, not one cent for tribute." ^ 

had persuaded Congress to lay an excise tax on whisky. Much discontent 
was the result. In 1794 there broke out what is known as "the whisky re- 
bellion" in Pennsylvania. It was easily put down. However, in his message 
to Congress with regard to it, Washington attributed the rebellion to the in- 
fluence of the Democratic clubs. The word "Democrat" was therefore tem- 
porarily in disfavor. To escape its unpopularity, Jefferson took up the word 
Republican, by which the party was known until about 1828, when it resumed 
the older name. It has been known as the Democratic party ever since. 

1 One of these was Hopkinson's "Hail Columbia." 

2 The expression is attributed to Pinckney. 



264 AMERICAN HISTORY 

383. The Naval War. During the next two years a naval 
war was carried on between France and the United States. 
Though no formal declaration of war was made by either 
country, their ships fought upon the high seas. The ocean 
swarmed with American privateers by which the commerce 
of France was sorely damaged. The most noted action of 
the war was the battle between the American frigate Con- 
stellation and the French frigate Vengea7ice. The latter 
was put to flight. 

384. The Appearance of Napoleon. However, a change 
soon took place in the government of France. It was now 
dominated by the great genius of Napoleon Bonaparte, whose 
European schemes would only be hampered by this side war 
with the United States. He sent word to the President 
indirectly that he was wilHng to make peace. Adams seized 
the opportunity and concluded a treaty with France in 1800. 

385. Alien and Sedition Acts. While pursuing this resolute 
pohcy abroad, the FederaHsts had made a great mistake at 
home. Carried away by their hatred for France they had 
passed a series of acts known collectively as the Alien and Sedi- 
tion Acts. These gave the President power to order out of the 
country any foreigner he thought undesirable, and also made 
it a crime punishable with imprisonment to issue any false, 
scandalous, or malicious writing aimed at the government. 
Congress, or the President. The former act was inspired, in 
part, by the impertinence of French ministers to the United 
States, who had freely meddled in American poHtics, while 
the latter act was a blow at certain RepubHcan newspapers 
which heaped upon the President the same sort of abuse 
formerly showered upon Washington. 

386. The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions. These acts 
killed the Federalist party. They were felt to be an intol- 
erable enlargement of the power of the central government, 
and in the very year when they were passed, 1798, two state 
k^gislatures protested against them. A series of resolutions 
drawn up by Jefferson was adopted by the legislature of 



THE NEW REGIME 



265 



Kentucky ; a similar series drawn up by Madison ^ was adopted 
by the legislature of Virginia. These resolutions formed a 
sort of poHtical platform for the RepubHcan (Democratic) 
party. They declared the Alien and Sedition Acts " void and 
of no force," because they violated the guarantee of personal 
liberty (section 343) set up by the Constitution ; the resolutions 

[fcITecI abiJiries to do JirKlcc to ifii 
<atTm of this fJIuJrious benefaaar ai 
manhindi bul, confcious ofouria- 
reriority, we (hriak from the fubli. 
inaity of the fubjea. 

Our feelings, however, will 
not permit us to forbear obferving, 
ihat the very difinterefted and im- 
portant fcrviccs rendered by Cicrge 
Wafbington. to tbcfe United btates, 
both in the Field and la the Cabinet, 
have ercfled ia the hearts of his 
countrymen, monuineflts of fuicerc 
and unbounded gratitude, which 
the mouldering hand of Time can 
fol deface ; and that in every quar. 
ter of the Globe, where a 6ee Go- 
v«Knment is ranked amongH the 
cholcefl bkffings of Providence, ond 
irtuet tnoraMyt religion, and palriC' 
\ti/m are refpefted, THE NAME of 
WASHINGTON witfc bb held in 
Ivenetation, • 




IT 18 with the decpeft grief £&4t 
we announce to the public the death 
of our trnjl dyitnguijhed fellow-ciri- 
zea Lieut. General Gearge Wnjbin^' 
'ott. 

I The grief which we fuffer on this 
truly mournful occaJion, would bt 
io fpme degree alkylated, if wejof 



FACSIMILE OF ANNOUNCEMENT OF DEATH OF WASHINGTON 

also declared that the Union was a " compact " among the 
states, and that the states should see to it that the federal 
government did not overstep its authority. 

387. The Fall of the Federalists. As preparation for the 
presidential election of 1800, the members of Congress, of 
both parties, held caucuses which nominated candidates.^ 

^ He had parted company with Hamilton as soon as the latter took his stand 
as the avowed champion of aristocracy and a "strong" government. Since 
1794 Madison had been one of the chief Democratic-Republicans. 

2 The caucus consisted mainly of the members of the party who were in Con- 
gress. It was an informal means of uniting the party preparatory to a campaign 
and inevitably gave place to the formal party convention. (See section 456.) 



266 AMERICAN HISTORY 

The Federalists put up Adams and C. C. Pinckney. The 
Republicans nominated Jeflferson and Aaron Burr. At this 
election the great state of New York, which had hitherto 
been Federahst, was captured by the Republicans. The 
twelve electoral votes of New York turned the scale and 
Jefferson was elected.^ 

Selections from the Sources. Johnson, Readings in American Constitu- 
tional History, 140-142, 152-235; Hart, Contemporaries, III, Nos. 
76-105 ; Macdonald, Documents, 6-12 ; Source Book, Nos. 55-64 ; Ames, 
State Documents on Federal Relations, No. I, 1-26 ; Maclay, Journal; 
Johnston, American Orations, 1, 84-113. 

Secondary Accounts. Wilson, American People, III, 98-163 ; John- 
ston, American Politics, 19-54; Hart, Formation of the Union, sees. 
73-82 ; Walker, Making of the Nation, 73-167 ; Stanwood, Presidency, 
20-73 ; Bassett, Federalist System; Gordy, Political Parties, I, 103-382 ; 
ScHOULER, United States, I, 70-220, 238-514; McMaster, United 
States, I, 525-604; II, 24-57, 67-154, 165-537; III, 1 16-123; Foster, 
Century of Diplomacy, 136-184; Maclay, United States Navy, I, 155- 
213; Dewey, Financial History, sees. 34-52; McDougall, Fugitive 
Slaves, i6-ig; Ku^sdai,!-., Old Northwest, 296-313, 368-388 ; Roosevelt, 
Winning of the West, IV, 1-257 ; Winsor, Westward Movement, 375- 
574; Foster, Century of Diplomacy, 103-135; Lodge, George Washijig- 
ton, II, 41-298, 304-395; Alexander Hamilton, 83-233; Ford, True 
George Washington; Morse, Thomas Jefferson, 87-185; Schouler, 
Thom.as Jeferson, 153-169; Hunt, James Madison, 167-270; Morse, 
John Adatns, 251-318; Merwi^, Aaron Burr, 71-90; Conant, Alex- 
ander Hamilton, 100-135; Stevens, Albert Gallatin, 1-169; Semple, 
Geographic Condilioiis, 75-92. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. The Formation of the President's 
Cabinet. 2. Early Clashes between the Sections. 3. The Policy of 
Hamilton. 4. The Original Conception of the Presidency. 5. The 
Theory of Implied Powers. 6. The Distinction between "Strict" and 
"Loose" Construction. 7. The Opening of the West. 8. The Appear- 
ance of Political Parties. 9. The Transformation of the Presidency. 
10. The Eleventh Amendment. 11. The Twelfth Amendment. 12. 
"X. Y. Z." 13. Alien and Sedition Acts. 14. Virginia and Kentucky 
Resolutions. 

* See section 380, note. 



CHAPTER XX 

THE AGE OF NAPOLEON 

388. Thomas Jefferson. The new President was one of 
those brilliant original persons who inspire devotion in friends 
and dislike in enemies. To this day, people still find it 
hard to discuss his genius dispassionately. Early in life he 
had become a philosophical skeptic both in reHgion and 
politics. He accepted the pohtical principles of the French 
Democrats and the religious principles of the school of phi- 
losophy then dominant in France. Personally, this revolu- 
tionary President was charming. His influence over the 
people around him was profound, and made up entirely 
for the fact that he was a poor pubHc speaker. Though a 
believer in democratic simplicity, his house in Virginia was 
a great mansion where he kept up a spacious style of living. 
A visitor said of him that he was " at once a musician, ... an 
astronomer, a natural philosopher and a statesman." 

389. The Republican (Democratic ) Party. The party be- 
hind Jefferson now included many people besides those 
who made up the Democratic movement of 1793. It had come 
into power in a great reaction against the " strong " govern- 
ment designed by Hamilton. Many men opposed a strong 
government for purely social reasons, because they feared 
it would lead to oppression of the lower classes by the money 
power ; some, because they feared it would encroach upon 
the authority of the separate states ; some, because of a dread 
that it would strengthen the mercantile North and weaken the 
agricultural South. This mixture of motives must be borne 
in mind if we want to understand the future history of the 
Jeffersonian party. 

267 



268 AMERICAN HISTORY 

390. Peace and Economy. Jefferson's first endeavor was 
to undo, so far as possible, the work of Hamilton and Adams. 
Though the army and navy were both small, he made them 
still smaller. His secretary of the treasury, Albert Gallatin, 
an able man of Swiss birth, set to work to cut down the 
national debt. In 1801 the United States owed eighty-three 
million dollars ; through the economies introduced by Gallatin, 
the debt was eventually cut down to forty-five million.^ 

391. Appointments to Office. Jefferson's loftiness of pur- 
pose was put to the test almost as soon as he became Presi- 
dent. He was truly a Democrat " on principle," and not for 
profit, but among his followers were some who were Democrats 
for profit. In two states, particularly, certain bad features 
of later politics had already appeared. In New York and 
Pennsylvania politics were beginning to be a business, the 
chief end of which was to secure office. Professional politicians 
who had supported Jefferson demanded that all Federahsts be 
turned out.^ They were backed up by the more bigoted 
Republicans (Democrats), whose hatred of Federalists was so 
extreme that they felt none of them could be trusted. Jeffer- 
son bravely withstood both of these groups among his fol- 
lowers. He announced that he would appoint only Republicans 
(Democrats) until they and the Federalists were equally repre- 
sented in the service of the country. After that, he would 
"return with joy to that state of things when the only ques- 
tions concerning a candidate shall be: Is he honest? Is he 
capable? Is he faithful to the Constitution? " 

392. The War with Tripoli. The great believers in democ- 
racy have generally opposed war because the successful 

1 This reduction had been effected by 1812, when war made a change in the 
situation. 

* At the close of Adams's administration, twenty-three new judgships were 
created, and Adams filled them just as he was leaving office. Jefferson con- 
demned his action as a species of trickery. Congress abolished the new judg- 
ships (1802). Later there was an attempt to impeach Judge Chase of the 
Supreme Court, on the charge of improper conduct when trying cases under 
the Alien and Sedition Laws. The attempt was not successful. 




THOMAS JEFFERSON 

From original picture by Gilbert Stuart in the Walker Art Building 
Bowdoin College 



THE AGE OF NAPOLEON 269 

prosecution of it necessitates a " strong " government and 
thus tends to bring back aristocratic and monarchic ideas. 
Jefferson was no exception. Nevertheless, he was compelled 
to wage war. Fortunately for him and his principles it was a 
short and successful one. The Mohammedan states of north- 
west Africa were nests of pirates, and most countries found it 
cheaper to pay a fixed sum annually to these villains than to 
chase them from the seas. The United States began by doing 
the same, but the more the pirates got, the more they wanted. 
At last Tripoli declared war against the United States. There- 
upon Americans showed the same genius at sea that they had 
shown in the brief war with France. The power of the 
piratical states was quickly crushed.^ 

393. The Mississippi Question. While this little war was 
in progress Jefferson was suddenly confronted with a foreign 
complication a hundred times more serious. Spain ceded 
Louisiana to France,^ of which the great Napoleon was now 
master, and while Napoleon was getting ready an army of 
occupation, the Spanish authorities at New Orleans, in spite 
of the treaty of 1795 (section 364), closed the Mississippi 
against Americans. Apparently Napoleon wanted to begin 
his reign in Louisiana freed from every obligation to keep 
open the Mississippi. This meant that the greatest miHtary 
power in the world held in its " mailed fist " the key to the 
prosperity of our Western states, and in spite of his fondness 
for France Jefferson saw plainly the only possible course 
before him. Either the United States must somehow keep 

1 The most brilliant action of the war was fought in the harbor of Tripoli 
(1803). The frigate Philadelphia had run aground and was in the hands of the 
pirates. Stephen Decatur with a crew of volunteers sailed into the harbor in a 
little vessel disguised as a iishing boat. They boarded the Philadelphia, drove 
off the pirates, and not being able to get the frigate away, burned it. They 
then made good their escape into the Mediterranean. 

2 By the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1800. The country ceded con- 
sisted of the entire west bank of the Mississippi and a small region on the east 
known as "Island of Orleans," a triangle bounded by the Mississippi, the Gulf, 
and the Bayou Manchac. This triangle had been given to Spain together with 
the whole west bank of the Mississippi in 1763. (See map p. 164.) 



270 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Napoleon from closing the Mississippi, or they must form 
an alliance with his persistent enemy, England. " The day 
that France takes possession of New Orleans," said Jefferson, 
"we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation." 

But Jefferson had no intention to do that if he could help it. 
He instructed our minister at Paris, Robert R. Livingston, 
to attempt to purchase the small part of Louisiana lying east 
of the river, and also, in order to join New Orleans with the 
United States, to purchase if possible West Florida. Thus 
Jefferson hoped to secure the whole east bank of the Mississippi 
and get equal rights with France in the navigation of the river. 
To assist Livingston he commissioned James Monroe as special 
envoy to Napoleon. 

394. Napoleon's Change of Front. When that amazing 
soldier took Louisiana, he was planning a colonial empire. 
But in 1802 several of his schemes went wrong. For one 
thing, an expedition against Haiti, where he intended to fix 
the halfway station between France and Louisiana, ended in 
disaster. Suddenly Napoleon changed his mind and de- 
termined to undertake the conquest of Europe. This meant 
a great war with England. However, the English navy was so 
powerful that Napoleon in spite of his irresistible armies could 
hardly expect to keep England from conquering the French 
colonies. The moment war broke out, they would be at her 
mercy. Therefore Napoleon said to his counsellors: "They 
(the English) shall not have the Mississippi, which they covet. 
... I have not a moment to lose in putting it out of their 
reach. ... I am thinking of ceding it to the United States." 
He took away Livingston's breath by offering to sell him the 
whole of Louisiana for fifteen million dollars.^ Just then 
Monroe arrived in Paris. The two ministers, though they had 
no authority to do so, took upon themselves the responsibility 
of accepting Napoleon's offer. Jefferson, though with some 
misgivings, supported them. At New Orleans the French 

'$11,250,000 cash and $3,750,000 (approximately) to American creditors 
of the French govcrnmeat. The treaty was completed, April 30, 1803. 



THE AGE OF NAPOLEON 271 

flag was lowered, the American flag was raised. Thus a vast 
western area was added to our country December 20, 1803.^ 

395. Louisiana. It was impossible to say just how much 
territory was included in Louisiana. Presumably it was the 
whole valley of the Mississippi west of the original United 
States. Very little was known about it. The population 
was but forty thousand, settled chiefly along the banks of the 
Mississippi and Red rivers.^ Only the extreme southern 
portion of it was now organized under the title of the Terri- 
tory of Orleans, which, seven years afterward, was admitted 
to the Union as the state of Louisiana. 

396. Effects of the West. The acquisition of Louisiana 
was a turning point in American history. Even before this, 
the thoughts of all men were turned more or less toward the 
West. By adding to " the West " this vast area of which so 
little was known, Jefferson cleared the way for political changes 
which will appear, one by one, in the following chapter. The 
immediate effect was a great quickening of the American 
imagination. The enormous unknown West appealed in 
different ways to the imaginations of different people, but to 
every one its bigness and mystery made some sort of appeal. 
Whether they hked the fact or not, all felt that the United 
States had acquired an empire and that out of this immense 
increase in territory great consequences were to grow. 

At least one of the immediate effects of the acquisition of 
Louisiana seems to us to-day astounding. This was nothing 
less than a great wave of fear. In the minds of the men of 

^ According to strict constructionist principles it was doubtful whether the 
federal government had the right to acquire new territory. Jefferson wished 
for an amendment to the Constitution justifying his act. But few other people 
thought it necessary, and presently the question was dropped. 

^ A contention arose over its eastern boundary. The American minister 
to France, Robert R. Livingston, insisted that West Florida had been ceded by 
Spain to Napoleon along with Louisiana and therefore should pass with Louisi- 
ana to the United States. Both Spain and Napoleon denied this. In 1810 
the United States took possession of part of the disputed area. The whole of 
West Florida was occupied in 1814. Spain ceded her entire Florida claim in 
1819. (See sections 410, 417.) 



272 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



the extreme East, especially of New England, the acquisition 
was a menace to their political existence. They foresaw the 
time when the Mississippi Valley would control the politics 
of America. That danger of sectional control over the central 
government, so clearly foreseen by Madison long before (sec- 
tion 335), now became plain to the New Englanders. They 
felt that a country with such an enormous West was no longer 
a safe place for the comparatively small East.^ Animated 
by this dread, the FederaHsts opposed the ratification of the 
treaty, but were powerless against the general enthusiasm it 
aroused. 

397. Lewis and Clark. A very different effect of the 
acquisition was its appeal to the sense of adventure in the 
hearts of men of daring. The lure of the unknown stirred many 
a bold Easterner to set his face toward the West. The trackless 
sunset land cast upon the imaginations of such men the same 
spell that the mysterious Indies cast upon their Elizabethan 
ancestors. Two such were William Clark and Meriwether 
Lewis. Jefferson, who shared this feehng, commissioned them 
to explore the West and the result was the famous " Lewis and 
Clark Expedition." Starting from St. Louis in the spring 
of 1804, they ascended the Missouri River to its source, 
crossed the Rocky Mountains, found the main stream of the 
Columbia River, and descended it to the Pacific, which they 
reached November 25, 1805.^ 

' So intense was this feeling that some sort of movement seems to have been 
started to separate New York and New England from the Union and form a 
separate northeastern confederacy. Dread of the West, and of what might 
come out of the West, inspired a speech made by Josiah Quincy of Massachu- 
setts in 181 1 against the admission of Louisiana. He said, "If this bill passes, 
it is my deliberate opinion that it is virtually a dissolution of the Union : that 
it will free the states from their moral obligation ; and as it will be the right of 
all, so it will be the duty of some, definitely to prepare for a separation, ami- 
cably if they can, violently if they must." However, he had little support at 
the time. 

2 Another famous exploration was conducted by Lieutenant Zebulon Pike 
of the United States army. He went up the Mississippi, skirted the present 
boundary of Canada, and returned southeastward through the Rocky Moun- 
tains. One of his discoveries was Pike's Peak. 




The Louisiana Purchase Territory witli States 
subsequently made from it 



■ ■ Route of Lewis and Clark, 1804-1806 

7// jM-M-i- Western Boundary agreed on by Treaty with Spain, 1819 



THE AGE OF NAPOLEON 273 

398. Astoria. The West appealed also to the imaginations 
of business men who saw in it hmitless possibilities of fortune. 
None perceived these more clearly than a great merchant of 
New York, John Jacob Astor. He sent out an expedition of 
fur traders, which estabHshed a post at the mouth of the 
Columbia and called it Astoria. Thus a further result of the 
Louisiana Purchase was the securing by the United States of a 
foothold on the Pacific. 

399. Aaron Burr. The West enthralled the imagination of 
still another type of man. This was the political schemer, 
of which there was no better instance than the vice president, 
Aaron Burr, whose career is one of the strangest in our history. 
Its most starthng incident took place in 1804, when he shot 
Alexander Hamilton in a duel which Burr had forced upon 
him. That same year Burr quarreled with the leaders of 
his own party and was not renominated for the vice presidency. 

The Republicans (Democrats) put up Jefferson and George 
CHnton, of New York. They were opposed by C. C. Pinckney 
and Rufus King. But Jefferson's leadership of the whole 
country was, for the moment, almost complete. He received 
one hundred sixty-two electoral votes, while Pinckney 
received only fourteen. 

The election put Burr in a desperate situation. Jefferson 
and the other party leaders had " read him out of the party." 
He no longer had any future as a Repubhcan, while the 
FederaHsts would never forgive him for the killing of Hamilton. 
It was proposed, even, in spite of the general tolerance of 
dueling, to bring him to trial on the charge of murder. With 
his fortunes at this hopeless ebb, the spell of the West inspired 
in Burr a mad resolve. Out there in the wonderful new 
country, sheer boldness and originaHty must of necessity 
count for more than in the old, comparatively conventional 
East. A leader of Napoleonic sort might build an empire 
in the sunset land. A gambler at heart, Burr determined to 
stake his all on a daring stroke in the West. Just what he 
planned to do is a question to this day, but there is no doubt 



274 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



that he gathered a small force at Blennerhasset's Island in 
the Ohio River, and started thence by water toward the south- 
west, late in 1806. However, he had been watched by the 
government, and now General Wilkinson, who was partly, at 
least, in his confidence, betrayed him. The arrest of Burr 
on his way down the Mississippi, and his trial on the charge of 
treasonable designs against the United States formed the sensa- 
tion in 1807. The evidence was not sufficient to sustain the 




CLERMONT ON HER VOYAGE UP THE HUDSON TO ALBAXY, AUG. 17, 1807 
From the foot of W. loth St., Greenwich Village, near the State Prison. 



charge and Burr was set free. But never again did he figure in 
public life. 

400. Fulton's Steamboat. That year, 1807, was an event- 
ful one in various ways, for the West was not the only thing 
that stimulated the Americans. The possibilities of science 
also made new appeals to them. Perhaps there was a direct 
connection between the two sorts of activity ; perhaps the 
general stir caused by the Western enthusiasm roused men of 
thought as well as men of action. At least, it was just then 
that the first American invention of universal importance was 
perfected. The first entirely successful voyage by steam 



THE AGE OF NAPOLEON 275 

power was made by the steamer Clermont, which was designed 
by Robert Fulton. 

Almost at once a regular line of steamers was put in opera- 
tion between New York and Albany. 

401. Slave Trade. Another important event of this year 
was the aboHtion of the slave trade. Under the Constitution 
it could continue until 1808. An act of Congress now pro- 
vided that it should cease absolutely at the first moment 
permitted by the Constitution.^ 

402. John Quincy Adams. The success of Jefferson's 
government was illustrated by a conspicuous withdrawal 
from the ranks of the Federalists. John Quincy Adams, the 
son of his old enemy, President Adams, came over to Jeffer- 
son's side in this year 1807. Thereafter he was a supporter 
of the Repubhcans (Democrats). 

403. Foreign Complications. However, the most far- 
reaching event of the year was of a different character from 
any of these. To understand it, we must glance at the history 
of Europe. While Americans were exploring the West, 
England and France were waging a terrible war, in which 
practically every European nation took part. Again, as in 
1793, both sides were determined that no power should stand 
neutral. Again the United States attempted to do so, and at 
first the attempt was successful. American trade became 
brisk, especially with the French West Indies. As a conse- 
quence, unfortunately, deserters from the English navy were 
welcomed and given employment on board American mer- 
chantmen. The British government thereupon revived its 
old claim of " right of search," and declared further that 
neutral ships should not be allowed under any conditions to 
carry French goods. Orders were issued to the navy to search 
neutrals on the high seas and not only impress deserters but 
confiscate French goods. English frigates were stationed 

• Previous legislation on slavery included an a ct for the arrest and return 
of fugitive slaves (1793). Congress refused to introduce slavery into Indiana, 
though the people of the territory repeatedly petitioned in favor of it. 



276 AMERICAN HISTORY 

outside New York harbor and American ships were insolently- 
stopped and searched. Now, as formerly, American seamen 
were often impressed on the false charge that they were 
English deserters. 

Through her great victory at Trafalgar, England at last 
destroyed the French navy and got full control of the sea. 
Napoleon then made a new move. Having control of the 
entire continent of Europe, he resolved to destroy England's 
market. He established his " continental system," under 
which France and all her allies were bound not to purchase 
English goods of any sort. England retaliated by forbidding 
all the world to trade with France.^ Napoleon answered, 
forbidding all the world to trade with England. 

One aim of all this was to force the United States to take 
one side or the other. " Those who are not with me are 
against me " was the motto of both sides. But the Americans 
were resolute not to take sides ; Jefferson was still an ardent 
behever in peace. Moreover, the profits of the neutral trade, 
in spite of all the ships taken and confiscated by the English, 
were enormous.^ 

404. The Chesapeake. So things stood in June, 1807. 
In that month the United States frigate Chesapeake went to 
sea. On board, without the commander's knowledge, were 
some Enghsh deserters who had enUsted in the American navy. 
Just beyond Cape Henry the Chesapeake was overtaken by 
the British frigate Leopard, fired upon, and forced to submit 
to search. Several men were taken off, some of whom were 
undoubtedly American citizens. The Chesapeake was then 

' In technical language, the whole French coast was declared blockaded. 
This was the old question of the "paper blockade" : that is, the right to ex- 
clude neutrals from an enemy's port by a mere decree unsup[X)rted by naval 
I>owcr. The United States met it as before by contending that a blockade " to 
be binding must be efTective." England ignored this contention and captured 
sliips bound for any prohibited port, irrespective of whether the port was 
actually closed or not. 

2 Between 1803 and 1811 the English captured Q17 American vessels; the 
French, 558. And yet, during that time, the tonnage of American sliips in foreign 
trade almost doubled. 



THE AGE OF NAPOLEON 277 

permitted to return home, bringing news of this insult to the 
American flag, this outrage upon American pride. 

405. The Embargo. Naturally the country became en- 
raged. On all sides went up a cry for war, but Jefferson was 
still determined to keep the peace. It occurred to him to 
do on a small scale what Napoleon appeared to have done on 
a great scale. ^ Napoleon having closed England's European 
market, Congress might now close her American market. 
Jefferson advised Congress to lay an embargo on American 
shipping, — that is to say, prohibit all American ships from 
trading with Europe. The shipowners protested, but the Re- 
publicans had a majority in both houses of Congress, and the 
shipowners were almost all New England Federalists. Their 
protestswere not heeded. The embargo was laid. (1807.) 

406. Reaction against Jefferson. The next fourteen 
months formed a period of bitter discontent in America. Ships 
lay idle at the wharves. Cargoes of grain rotted in the ware- 
houses. Business, of course, was at a standstill, and many 
men were thrown out of employment. Gradually a reaction 
against the government came about. In New England the 
feehng was so intense that secession seemed not unhkely. 
Reluctantly the Repubhcan leaders decided to repeal the 
embargo. Said a South Carolina member of Congress, 
" The excitement in the East renders it necessary that we 
should enforce the embargo with the bayonet or repeal it. I 
will repeal it. . . ." 

407. Madison becomes President. A few days after the 
repeal of the embargo, Jefferson left the White House and was 
succeeded as President by his friend James Madison, who had 
been his secretary of state. No other American President, 
with the exception of Lincoln fifty years later, came into ofiice 
under such trying circumstances. Abroad the greatest powers 
of the world, England and France, both threatened us with 

^ In point of fact Napoleon had failed. Smuggling was carried on in France 
as never before. Napoleon was forced to wink at it and even turn smuggler 
himself. His army, for example, wore English shoes. 



278 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



destruction. At home one section of the Union, New England, 
had become aUenated from the rest. In other sections there 
was a growing tendency to pay no attention to New England's 
wishes. Hatred of the British government was daily increasing 
and there was a popular demand to take revenge in war. If 
war should be declared at Washington, it would be eagerly 
applauded by the South and the West. But in the East, as a 

rule, it would be grimly 
opposed. Agents of Eng- 
land were beHeved to be at 
work even then, seeking to 
bring about a secession of 
the New England states 
from the Union. Certainly 
it appeared to be to Eng- 
land's interest to force war 
upon the United States. 
And neither England nor 
Napoleon would make the 
least concession to the neu- 
tral power. Both stood fast 
by the stern doctrine "Who 
is not with me is against me." 
408. Madison's Policy. Nevertheless Madison made heroic 
efforts to maintain peace. At one time he seemed about to 
succeed. The British minister at Washington, David Erskine, 
was persuaded to sign a treaty which would have satisfied 
the Americans; but the British government promptly dis- 
avowed it. Erskine was succeeded by another minister, 
Jackson, who showed his contempt for Americans so plainly 
that Madison refused to have further deaHngs with him. It 
was an ominous sign of the times that the New England Federal- 
ists, when Jackson went on a tour of the country after being 
dismissed from Washington, received him with enthusiasm. 
Diplomatically, the President had failed. The country was 
a long step nearer war. 




MADISON 



THE AGE OF NAPOLEON 279 

409. Congressional Schemes. Congress had no better suc- 
cess. By a series of enactments it tried to force one or the 
other of the great European contestants, England or Napoleon, 
to come to the relief of the Americans. In 18 10 it passed an 
act promising that if either would make satisfactory com- 
mercial agreements with the United States, all trade with the 
other should be prohibited. This act gave rise to tortuous 
diplomacy, in the course of which Napoleon showed himself 
a master of deceit, but nothing satisfactory to Americans was 
accomplished. England, also, refused to make concessions.^ 

410. The Indian War. The strength of the war party 
was in the West, and surprising events which now took place 
increased greatly the Western hatred of England. We know 
to-day that England had nothing to do with these events. 
At the time, so credulous do men become in moments of 
anger, many people were willing to beheve that a hostile 
movement among the Indians was inspired by the British 
government. This hostile movement was nothing less than 
the organization of a great Indian confederacy. The organizer 
was Tecumseh, perhaps the ablest of all American Indians. 
In 1 8 10 he had drawn together the northern tribes and had an 
army of live thousand warriors. He was endeavoring also to 
draw in the southern tribes, of which the most important were 
the Creeks of Alabama. So threatening was Tecumseh's power 
that the governor of Indiana Territory, General William Henry 
Harrison, prepared for war. Presently Harrison had an 
opportunity to attack Tecumseh's forces in the absence of 
their leader and, seizing his opportunity, he invaded the 
Indian country, attacked the Indian town of Tippecanoe, and 
won a decisive victory (181 1). Thereupon the South became 

1 When the embargo was repealed in 1809, Congress substituted a "Non- 
Intercourse Act," by which Americans were forbidden to trade directly with 
either France or England. This act played a leading part in subsequent 
negotiations, but it could not be enforced once American ships were allowed 
to go to sea. In spite of it, trade with England and France went on. The act 
of 1810, known as " Macon's Bill, No. 2," authorized direct trade with England 
and France while expressing the provisional threat indicated above. 



28o AMERICAN HISTORY 

the seat of war. The Creeks attacked Fort Mims and 
massacred its garrison. 

However, Tecumseh's great scheme had been nipped in the 
bud. The northern confederacy fell to pieces. The Creeks, 
after stubborn fighting, were finally conquered by General 
Andrew Jackson, in the battle of Tohopeka (1814). 

411. The John Henry Letters. President Madison stimu- 
lated the anti-English feeling by sending to Congress certain 
documents which he had recently purchased at a cost of 
$50,000. They came from a " John Henry," who claimed to 
have acted as secret agent of England to New England. 
The British minister officially denied that Henry had ever 
been employed on such a mission, but Congress, already at 
fever heat, would not believe him. It passed a resolution, in 
the spring of 18 12, declaring its belief in Henry and bitterly 
denouncing England. War was now almost certainly a matter 
of time. 

412. New Political Leaders. This Congress of 1811-1812 
was controlled by young men. The old men, whose youth 
had been spent as subjects of the British crown, were passing 
away. Their places were taken by such men as William H. 
Crawford of Georgia, John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, and 
Henry Clay of Kentucky, and a little later, Daniel Webster of 
Massachusetts. A new note was struck in American politics 
by the advent of these young leaders. It is not fanciful, 
perhaps, to add that most of them had become possessed, so 
to speak, by the spirit of the West. Of Clay, at least, this 
is entirely true. And Clay was the most influential of them 
all. He summed up in himself both the strength and the 
weakness of the daring life of the frontier. In Clay were 
embodied the frontier boldness, its love of adventure, its 
contempt of danger, its willingness to take a great risk for a 
great gain, its impulsiveness, its generosity, but also its lack 
of restraint, its tendency to go to extremes, its willingness to 
fight, not troubhng itself much about the strict justice of the 
cause. To such a nature, war always makes a romantic appeal. 



THE AGE OF NAPOLEON 



281. 



We are not surprised to find Clay, in 181 2, eager for war and 
assuring Congress that if it would force war, his frontiersmen 
would easily conquer Canada and we should " negotiate the 
terms of a peace at Quebec or Halifax." He carried his point 
and war was declared against England June 18, 181 2. 

413. The War of 1812. It was perhaps the worst instance 
in American history of rushing into a great undertaking 
without sufficient preparation. The whole American army 
numbered only a few thousand men. As to conquering Canada, 



^ N/;'4/1.0 N T A R 1 o 




THE WAR OF 1812 ON THE CANADIAN BORDER 



Clay had forgotten that no good roads led to the Canadian 
line. To move an army northward would be a serious matter. 
At sea we had but a handful of ships with which to meet the 
greatest navy in the world. Furthermore, the northeastern 
states were certain to obstruct the war in every way possible. 
The history of the war on land is largely a record of un- 
successful attempts to invade Canada. An exception was 
an expedition under General Harrison, in 1813, which de- 
feated a force of British and Indians at the battle of the Thames 
in Canada and delivered the northwest from the threatened 
danger of British conquest. Harrison's expedition had been 
made possible by a brilliant naval action on Lake Erie, won 
by Lieutenant Oliver H. Perry (September 10, 18 13), who re- 



282 AMERICAN HISTORY 

ported his victory in the famous dispatch, " Wc have met 
the enemy and they are ours." 

The British retaHated in a series of invasions of the United 
States. In 1814 a part of Maine was occupied and all the 
coast blockaded. Other attacks were made at various places 
that same year. One of them ended in a striking American 
success. At Plattsburg, on Lake Champlain, eighteen thou- 
sand invaders moving down from Canada were repulsed by en- 
trenched forces of militia (September i i). A naval attack upon 
Baltimore (September 12) was also unsuccessful/ the invaders 
being held in check by the fine defense of Fort McHenry. 
The one distinguished countermove made by the Americans 
against Canada, in 18 14, had ended with the doubtful battle 
of Lundy's Lane (July 25). However, one event of this year 
made all others seem insignificant. A British army landed 
in Maryland, defeated an American force at Bladensburg, and 
marched against Washington. The President and cabinet 
fled ; the city was taken ; the capitol burned ; and the in- 
vaders withdrew in safety to their ships. 

414. The War at Sea. At sea, on the other hand, the 
Americans astonished the world. Their ships, which proved to 
be much superior to the British ships, were handled with 
perfect seamanship and with startling audacity. The Ameri- 
cans were victors in a series of brilliant naval duels. The 
first in this roll of fame was the action between the American 
frigate Constitution and the Guerricre. It took the Americans 
only thirty minutes to make of the Guerriere a total wreck 
(August 19, 181 2). 

Nevertheless, before the end of 18 14 the superiority of the 
British in numbers turned the scale. Practically all the 
American warships had been either captured or driven into 

* It was during this attack that Francis Scott Key was detained a virtual 
prisoner on board one of the British ships, where he waited during a night of 
bombardment for "the morning's first Hght" to reveal whether our flag still 
flew above Fort McHenry. Thrilled by the sight of it still flying, he wrote off, 
on the back of an old letter, the first draft of the " Star-Spanglcd Banner." 



THE AGE OF NAPOLEON 



283 



port and there blockaded. But the American flag was not 
driven from the seas, which swarmed with American privateers. 
In the course of the war they captured twenty- three hundred 
British merchantmen.^ The London Times expressed the dis- 
may and bewilderment of the English business world when it 
said of. the American ships, " If they fight, they are sure to 
conquer ; if they fly, they are sure to escape." 




Courtesy of the Peabody Museum, Salem, Mass. 
A MODEL OF THE CONSTITUTION 



415. Opposition to the War. By the latter part of 1814 the 
Americans, in spite of their great deeds at sea, appeared to 
have lost their cause. Their navy was destroyed ; the capitol 
had been taken and burned ; their aggressive movements 
had generally been disastrous. The opposition to the war 
among their own people had become threatening. The 

^ On the other hand, the British took seventeen hundred American §hip5 
and recaptured seven hundred and fifty of their own. 



284 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



governors of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
Rhode Island, and New Jersey had refused to supply miUtia 
called for by the President. Recently, in the legislature of 
Massachusetts language had been used that was almost 
identical with that of the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions 
(section 386). In the autumn of 18 14 the Massachusetts 
legislature voted to raise a state army of ten thousand men and 
asked the other New England states to send delegates to a 
convention. 

416. The Hartford Convention. The convention met at 
Hartford in December, 1814. The debates were held in secret 
and we do not know what propositions were actually dis- 
cussed. It seems probable that the movement which resulted 

in the Hartford Conven- 



tion began as a secession 
movement, but that men 
opposed to secession skill- 
fully got control of it and 
changed its drift. ^ And 
yet the official report of 
the convention, considering 
the moment at which it 
was made, was sufficiently 
alarming. Besides urging 
a number of changes in the 
details of the federal sys- 
tem — such as limiting the 
President to one term of 
office — its main demands 
were two : payment to each state of part of the federal rev- 
enue collected within it, and wholesale reduction of the 
powers of Congress. 

417. Battle of New Orleans. While the Hartford Conven- 
tion was in session, a British army approached New Orleans. 

' In spite of these anti-war demonstrations, the New Englanders bore their 
share in the war, especially at sea. 




WAR IX THE SOUTHWEST 



THE AGE OF NAPOLEON 285 

The American commander at New Orleans was General 
Andrew Jackson, who had already distinguished himself in 
the war with the Creeks.^ He took liis position outside the city 
and threw up entrenchments a mile long, extending from the 
Mississippi to a swamp. A canal formed a further defense in 
front of his line. In this position he was attacked by Enghsh 
regulars. The attack was made with great spirit, but the 
American lire was " so terrible, so continuous, that it dwelt 
in the memory of the assailants as most like to the continuous 
roar of tropical thunder." After fearful loss, the British 
retreated (January 8, 181 5). 

418. Peace Negotiations. Meanwhile a different sort of 
event was taking place at Ghent in Belgium. Commissioners 
from the United States were debating with commissioners 
from England the terms of a treaty of peace. This had been 
made possible by the overthrow of Napoleon's empire and the 
close of the European war the previous year. Unless England 
treasured vindictive feelings toward the United States, there 
was no longer any real reason for continuing the war in America. 
The English must be given credit for meeting the changed 
conditions in a liberal spirit. The great Duke of Wellington 
threw his influence on the side of peace. As a result, the 
commissioners of the two countries signed the Treaty of Ghent. 
It was ratified by the Senate of the United States in 1815.^ 

419. The Treaty of Ghent. The treaty was little more than 
an agreement to stop the war and begin over in friendly rela- 
tions. The particular questions over which the war started, 
such as right of search, and what goods a neutral might carry, 

^ Following his victory of Tohopcka (section 410), Jackson had invaded 
Florida, where the Spanish authorities, though supposed to be neutral, had 
allowed the British to form a base of supplies. Having repulsed a British move- 
ment toward Mobile, Jackson then pushed on against Pensacola, the British 
base. He took possession of it November 7, 1814. 

^ The American commissioners were Albert Gallatin, James A. Bayard, John 
Quincy Adams, Johnathan Russell, and Henry Clay. Gallatin and Bayard 
had been sent over as early as 18 13, when the Emperor of Russia made a fruit- 
less attempt to bring England and America to terms. 



286 AMERICAN HISTORY 

were simply dropped. England agreed that the United States 
should have all the territory they had when the war began. ^ 

420. The Peace of 1815. The news that peace had been 
made put an end to the secession movement in New England. 
The Hartford Convention was soon forgotten, and the issues it 
had raised were never voted upon. In all parts of the Union 
joy over the return of peace subdued all other feelings. The 
Republicans (Democrats), who had captured so much popu- 
larity by making war, now gained as much more by making an 
end of it. The war expenses, including loans amounting to 
$98,000,000, had been felt everywhere, and the whole people 
turned toward peace with grateful hearts. 

The Treaty of Ghent marks the close of the long struggle 
of the Americans to withdraw from European politics. From 
that time forward, the United States were enabled to pursue 
their own course and develop in their own way. With one 
exception, they were hardly concerned in European politics 
during the space of three generations. Thus they were 
enabled to determine for themselves what their civilization was 
to be. When, after long isolation, the American republic be- 
came again one of the factors in the world's diplomacy, it 
returned into the field as a first-class power. 

Selections from the Sources. Macdonald, Source Book, Nos. 65-70; 
Documents, Nos. 24-32; Ames, State Documents on Federal Relations, 
No. I, 26-44; No. 2; Johnson, Readings, 237-291; Hart, Contem- 
poraries, III, Nos. 106-129; Johnston, American Orations,!, 164-215. 

Secondary Accounts. Adams, United States, I, 185-446; II- 
VIII; IX, 1-103 ; Wilson, American People, III, 153-234; Cambridge 
Modern History, VII, 331-348; Hart, Formation of the Union, sees. 
94-117; Walker, Making of the Nation, 168-213; Channing, Jejer- 
sonian System; Stanwood, Presidency, 74-105 ; Schouler, United 
States, II, 1-229; McMaster, United Stales, II, 583-635; III, 1-88, 
142-458, 516-560; IV, 1-279; V, 373-380, 418-432; Babcock, Rise of 
American Nationality; Gordy, Political Parties, 9-333; Dewey, 
Financial History, sees. 54-64 ; Locke, Antislavcry, 131-165 ; Roosevelt, 

' Astoria (section 398), which had been seized by the British in the course 
of the war, was now returned to the United States. 



THE AGE OF NAPOLEON 287 

Winning of the West, IV, 258-343 ; Hosmer, Louisiana Purchase, 
21-178; Sparks, Expansion, 188-215; Cable, Creoles of Louisiana, 
1-209 ; Foster, Century of Diplomacy, 185-232 ; Morse, Thomas Jefer- 
son, 186-307; Merwin, Thomas Jefferson, 119-164; Aaroti Burr, 
57-147; Stevens, Albert Gallatin, 170-200; Adams, John Randolph, 
1-233; ScHURZ, Henry Clay, I, 67-125; Brown, Andrew Jackson, 
24-86; Parton, General Jackson, 25-248; Tkvrston, Robert Fulton; 
LiGHiON, Lewis and Clark; Eggleston and Seeley, Tecumseh and the 
Shawnee Prophet; Mahan, War of 181 2; Roosevelt, Naval War of 
1812; Maclay, United States Navy, I, 305-658; II, 3-22; Mollis, 
Frigate Constitution; Hosmer, Mississippi Valley, 146-191 ; Semple, 
Geographic Conditions, ()2,~ii2„ 134-139; Coman, Economic Beginnings 
of the Far West, I, 222-341. 

Topics for Special Reports. i. The Character of Jeflferson. 
2. Napoleon's American Schemes. 3. The Cession of Louisiana. 
4. The Expedition of Lewis and Clark (their original " History " is pub- 
lished in the Trail Maker's Series, edited by Professor McMaster, three 
volumes). 5. Astoria (see H. H. Bancroft, "Oregon"). 6. The Burr 
Conspiracy. 7. The American Decrees of Napoleon. 8. Tecumseh. 
9. The War at Sea. 10. The Hartford Convention. 



FOURTH PERIOD (1815-1876) 

NORTH AND SOUTH IN THE AMERICAN 

UNION 



CHAPTER XXI 

THE FEDERAL PROBLEM 

421. The Three Historic Forces. The experience of the 
United States between 1789 and 1815 reveals to us the chief 
problem of all governments which rule over a vast extent of 
territory. It is the difficulty of making laws agreeable to 
every section. Where different sections of a country are 
unlike geographically, they are bound to develop different 
interests. Furthermore, accident is almost certain to give 
rise in each section to hkes and dislikes peculiar to the lo- 
caHty. Also, the way of living in each section, as years 
pass, is sure to become distinctive and thus create in its 
people a point of view of their own. All these things 
came about in the United States. New England's in- 
terests were all upon the sea, and hence New England 
bitterly opposed any laws that did not protect its 
shipping. The interests of the West were all on land, and 
its demand was ever to make sure of our position on land 
and treat the shipping interests as secondary. Hence the bad 
feehng between New England and the West. In the matter of 
likes and dishkes, the New Englanders loved old England and 
hated France. The Southerners, or at least a considerable 
number of Southerners, were in the main friendly to France 
and indifferent, or even hostile, toward England.^ So New 

^ Subsequently, these relations were altered. See chapter XXII. 
288 



THE FEDERAL PROBLEM 289 

England and the South became enemies upon a matter of 
feeling. As to the zeal of each locality to preserve its own 
way of living, this was not so clearly demonstrated previous 
to 181 5, though already people saw that any sweeping change 
of conditions in any given section would tend to alter 
the entire social system. This point will be treated more 
fully later. To sum up : we have encountered, in the ex- 
perience of our country between 1789 and 181 5, three of the 
leading forces that determine the course of history — the 
economic force, the sentimental force, and the social force. 

422. The Despotism of the Majority. All three forces 
had their share in separating the states of the Union into 
groups.^ As we have seen, the minority group was forced to 
accept the dictation of the majority group. In the presidential 
election of 181 2 the opposition to Madison had very little 
strength outside New England. However, the large group 
of states which supported him was not destined to hold 
together. An important group — New York, Pennsylvania, 
New Jersey — were soon to become what we now call 
" doubtful " states. Their interests in general inchned them 
to side with New England and support what came to be 
known as an " eastern " policy. Their feeling, on the other 
hand, was often with the South, so that their votes at times 
upheld a " southern " poHcy. Counting out these three, 
the remaining states in the majority group fell sharply into two 
other subgroups : (i) the really Southern states — Virginia, 
Maryland, Delaware, the CaroHnas, Georgia, with the new 
state of Louisiana, and (2) the Western states of Tennessee, 
Kentucky, Ohio. These latter, with the vast territories 
beyond them, in 181 2 formed " the West." We have traced, 
step by step, how circumstances had estabhshed an alKance 

1 In all groupings of the states in sections previous to 1861, there was always 
a string of border states which were not unconditionally in any group. In 
1815 Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York formed the "border" group. 
Both in interest and feeling, their sympathies were divided among the three 
clearly defined sections. Soon these states lost their border character and 
another group acquired it. 



290 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



between the West and the South with the result that the 
East was at their mercy. Thus had come about the first 
great instance in our history of a majority of the states over- 
ruHng in their own interests the sohd opposition of a minority. 

423. Rearrangement of the Sections. If the West and the 
South could have held together, the course of our history would 
have been very different from what it actually became. But 
they could not hold together. In the twenty years following 
181 2 they gradually drew apart. By degrees, the West 
became an ally of the East. The chief topic of American 
history during this transitional period is the rearrangement of 
the sections which ended in combining the West and the 
East against the South. By 1830 the three sections were 
practically consolidated into two, the South and the North. 

424. The Causes of the Change. Our next purpose is to 
get a clear understanding both of how this rearrangement of 
the sections took place and of what were its chief causes. To 
do so, we shall need to get a general impression of what the 
West at that time was like. Also we must see how slavery 
suddenly became a great question in American politics. Then, 
too, we must trace certain economic consequences of the war 
which did not appear until several years afterward, but which 
at last proved to be most profound. Finally, we shall observe 
another case of defiance of the will of a majority of the states ; 
the " nullification episode " in South Carolina will show a 
startHng kinship to the earlier secessionist movement in New 
England (section 415). Thus the history of these twenty 
years may be summarized under four heads : (i) The Needs of 
the West; (2) Slavery CompUcations ; (3) The Problem of 
the Tariff ; (4) NulUfication. 

I. THE NEEDS OF THE WEST 

425. The Western People. In 18 10 the western people 
numbered nearly a million. During the next ten years their 
numbers rose to more than seventeen hundred thousand, and 
by the end of the period we are now considering were nearly 



THE FEDERAL PROBLEM 291 

three million.^ These people, however, differed among them- 
selves for several reasons, but first of all because the streams 
of immigration moving westward had in the main kept apart. 
From New England and New York, settlers occupied the north- 
west section along the Great Lakes. From Virginia they 
moved directly westward into southern Ohio and Kentucky. 
Tennessee drew its population largely from the Carolinas. Of 
course there were exceptions to all this. Ohio, for example, 
drew from all parts of the seaboard. Indiana, on the other 
hand, was settled chiefly from the South, and remained for a 
long time distinctly Southern in its sympathies. Thus, from 
the beginning there were great differences of feeling among 
Westerners, differences of inherited attitude toward the states 
of the seaboard. The states north of the Ohio inclined to 
be tender of the interests of New England, while the states 
south of the river inclined to favor the interests of Virginia 
and the Carolinas. 

426. Western Interests. However, all the Westerners 
soon began to develop interests of their own. Almost all of 
them were farmers. The little towns of the West were trading 
places, not manufacturing centers. At the opening of this 
period of the rearrangement, western life was mainly rough 
and hard. The " frontiersman " lived in cramped quarters, 
very often in a log cabin, with few comforts and no luxuries. 
His prosperity depended entirely upon his crop. He had 
to meet, therefore, two exacting problems — how to get 
plenty of good land to cultivate, and how to dispose of its 
produce. 

427. The Land Question. Upon the first question. Congress 
had already come to his assistance. As early as 1800, land 
offices were established in the Western states. Land was 
offered for sale by the government at a minimum price of two 

1 Including Kentucky and Tennessee. Kentucky eventually became a 
"border" state, while Tennessee was drawn into the southern group. The part 
of the West that definitely joined with the East to make the North, — that is, the 
portion north of the Ohio, — had, in 1830, about a million and a half people. 



292 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



dollars an acre and only one fourth of the money had to be paid 
down ; the settler was given four years in which to pay the 
rest. This system enabled practically every one to get as 
much land in the West as he wanted. 

428. The Market Question. There was still, however, 
the question of disposing of the produce. At first there was 
no way but to load it upon flatboats and float it down the 




ROUTES TO THE WEST, 1823 

Mississippi to New Orleans. The invention of the steamboat 
helped matters greatly. About 1812 steamboats began to be 
in general use on the western rivers.^ From Pittsburg to 
New Orleans was a ten-day voyage. The return voyage 
against the current took thirty-five days. 

429. The Need of Roads. However, the problem of getting 
western produce to market was not solved by the steamboats, 
for New Orleans served only as a stopping point on the way to 

' Steamers were introduced on the Great Lakes in 1818. In 1832 began 
direct water communications between the East and Chicago. 



THE FEDERAL PROBLEM 



293 



distant ports. The place where western produce was finally 
sold was either some port in Europe, or some American city 
on the seaboard, and early in the century Westerners turned 
their eyes upon the seaboard cities as the best markets for 
their produce. But how were they to reach the cities except 
by the slow and costly voyage to New Orleans and thence 
through the Gulf and round Florida to the East? It was a 
question of roads. The interests of the West demanded good 




m (in (lid print 



BROADWAY, NEW YORK, IN 1S30 



roads across the mountains, and yet who was to build them? 
Not the West itself for two reasons : the needed roads would be 
chiefly outside the Western states — across New York or 
Pennsylvania, or Virginia, or the Carolinas — and further- 
more the Western communities were too poor to pay for 
them. 

Congress, which had already supplied the Westerners with 
land, now set to work to supply them with a profitable market. 
It undertook the construction of roads across the mountains. 
A " national road," as it was called, was authorized in 1806, 



294 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



and was opened for travel in 1820.^ It extended from Cumber- 
land, Maryland, to Wheeling on the Ohio. 

430. The " American System." The chief leaders of 
the movement to build up the West through the aid of Con- 
gress were Henry Clay of Kentucky and John C. Calhoun of 
South Carolina. Their cooperation shows how the South 
and West at that time mutually supported each other. 

Clay, speaking for Kentucky, urged upon Congress what 
he called the "American system," a great scheme of internal 




'^^-'-^^^^ 



From an old print. 



CHICAGO IN THE EARLY DAYS 



improvements calculated to bring all parts of the country 
into close relations with all others. Calhoun, in 181 7, intro- 
duced into Congress the so-called Bonus Bill, providing for 
the beginnings of such a system. Congress was to distribute 
among the states $1,500,000 " for constructing roads and 
canals and improving the navigation of water courses." This 
bill inevitably aroused much opposition. Many people ob- 
jected to being taxed in order to make internal improvements 
which might not in the least benefit their own locaHties. But 
Clay and Calhoun carried the day. New York was brought 



* Subsequently Congress ceded the various sections of it to the states in which 
they lay. The road had been extended across Ohio and Indiana to Vandalia, 
Illinois. 



THE FEDERAL PROBLEM 295 

to support the bill because one of its chief objects was a great 
canal connecting the Hudson River with Lake Erie, Natu- 
rally, it would be much to the advantage of New York to have 
this canal largely paid for out of federal taxes. However, 
almost in the last moment of his term, President Madison 
vetoed the bill. He doubted whether Congress had the right 
to appropriate money for purposes of this sort.^ 

431. The Western Doctrine. There, for the moment, 
the matter was brought to a standstill. During the greater 
part of the next administration, the first presidential term of 
James Monroe,^ minor issues held the attention of Congress. 
However, the influence of the West upon the Union as a whole 
had only begun. Out of the circumstances just reviewed, the 

^ Thus deprived of federal aid, New York went to work alone and built the 
Erie Canal. The effect was revolutionary. The cost of freight from the sea 
water to Lake Erie dropped from $120 a ton to $19. The population of New 
York City increased from 124,000 in 1820, to 203,000 in 1830. 

2 For the second time, the secretary of state succeeded the President. The 
Republican (Democratic) candidates in 1816 were Monroe and Daniel D. 
Tompkins, of New York. They received one hundred eighty-three electoral 
votes. The Federalists cast thirty-four electoral votes for Rufus King of 
New York, but did not agree on a candidate for vice president. 

During Monroe's presidency occurred the First Seminole War (1817-1818). 
The Seminoles were Creeks who had retreated into Florida after the power of 
their nation was shattered by Jackson (section 410). From Florida, with the 
connivance perhaps of the Spanish authorities, they raided the Georgia border. 
Jackson having been sent against them speedily crushed their power. It was 
in the course of this war that Jackson seized and hanged two British traders, 
named Arbuthnot and Ambrister, who were accused of intriguing with the 
Indians. (See section 454, note.) 

While Jackson was virtually conquering Florida, Monroe was negotiating for 
its purchase. In 1819 Spain consented to a cession, accepting in return the 
promise of the United States to discharge claims against the Spanish govern- 
ment amounting to some $5,000,000. The same treaty defined the western 
boundary of the United States as far north as the forty-second parallel (see map, 
p. 272) which was accepted as the northern limit of the Spanish possessions. 

The year previous (1818) a treaty with England had defined our northwestern 
boundary, making it the forty-ninth parallel from the Lake of the Woods to the 
summit of the Rocky Mountains. (See maps following pp. 272, 278.) 

For the great events of Monroe's second term, the dispute over Oregon and 
the dealings with the Holy Alliance, see for the former, sections 504, 505, and 
for the latter, section 441. 



296 AMERICAN HISTORY 

West formulated its chief political proposition — the doctrine 
that it was not only right but sensible to use the power of the 
central government to assist a state to counteract its natural 
disadvantages. The Westerners, Clay particularly, applied 
this doctrine in various ways. For one thing they supported 
legislation in the interests of the eastern manufactures. We 
shall see how and why, when we come to the third section of 
this chapter. 

432. Western Sentiment. So much for the working of 
the economic force in the West. However, we should blind 
ourselves to something still more significant if we thought 
that the West had no other inspiration. On the contrary, the 
men of the West were stirred by a great sentimental force 
which had little to do with economics. The mass of Westerners 
had been infected, so to speak, by what we may call " Western- 
ism," a state of mind that had come to them through their 
struggle with the mighty forests they had hewed down ; in 
their Long journeys on the soKtary western rivers ; in their 
lonely pondering on the vastness of their land of the setting 
sun. Their imaginations were enthralled by a sense of the 
grandeur of their undeveloped empire and the majesty of 
the task of developing it. Then, too, these people had another 
influence in their lives making them different from the men 
of the South and East. Their state governments had not yet 
had time to become objects of deep feeling with them. The 
Easterner, on the other hand, inherited a love for his state. He 
told his children how the state had borne itself in colonial wars, 
how it had fought for its freedom against the king. The 
Westerner was often a newcomer in his state, often uncertain 
how long he would remain. All the West was still more or 
less on the move — across the mountains, along the rivers, 
through the forests, toward the sunset. 

These bold Westerners were mostly people of intense feel- 
ing. Frontier life always makes people bold and passionate, 
and American frontier life in the first quarter of the nineteenth 
century was characterized by vehemence. In religion, for 



THE FEDERAL PROBLEM 



297 



example, the forms most popular in the West were of an intense, 
emotional sort. As far back as 1800, what was known as the 
Kentucky revival caused a wave of religious excitement to go 
over the West. Later, the chief religious figures were the 
" circuit riders," Baptist or Methodist ministers who rode a 
circuit through many neighborhoods, holding services where- 
ever they could find a place. Often they had only a tent. 
The " camp meeting " was an assemblage drawn together from 




SCENE ON THE NATIONAL ROAD 



all the country round, to hear some traveling preacher. 
America has produced no bolder or more devoted men than 
these circuit riders of a hundred years ago. They put into 
their religion the imagination, the mystery, the faith in the 
future, both here and hereafter, that characterized their 
section. 

It must not be supposed, however, that the West was all 
rough and rude, even at first. Many a man of education, 
many a woman of refinement, crossed the mountains before 
the Cumberland Road was built. There were small groups 
of educated people here and there in the West, even before 



298 AMERICAN HISTORY 

1800 and a great many of them before 181 5. Houses still 
stand, built before that year, which are spacious mansions.^ 

433. Nationalism. The most distinctive thing about all 
these people was their peculiar state of mind politically. 
With all their hearts they longed to satisfy their imaginations 
by becoming part of a grand state. But no state then existing 
in the West seemed to answer this purpose. What were they 
to do to satisfy their longing? This unspoken question was 
answered by the springing to life among them of a new con- 
ception of the federal government. 

It seems fairly certain that down to about 181 5, perhaps 
later, no one thought of the Union as anything but a group of 
states. They did not think of it as a single thing. With 
comparative suddenness, in the latter part of the twenty years 
of the rearrangement of the sections, considerable numbers 
of men began to think of the Union in a different way. They 
began to think of it not as a mere association, a group of part- 
ners as you might say, but as a fixed and inviolable unit. 
They began denying that any member, under any circum- 
stances, had the right to withdraw from it. They began say- 
ing that however one might oppose the course of Congress, 
any law, once enacted, was as binding on all Americans, no 
matter how they felt about it, as in Europe would be the edict 
of an emperor. This was the national idea, or "nationalism." 
It was this idea, from whatever source it came — and people 
are not of one mind as to what was its precise origin- — that 
fell in perfectly with the mood of the West, that found there 
the conditions favorable to its growth, and became, through its 

' One such is a beautiful old house in Cincinnati, now the i)roi)erty of Mr. 
Charles P. Taft, which was counted the home residence of President William H. 
Taft. 

^ The national idea was undoubtedly held b)' Hamilton and believers in it 
think they fmd it in the writings of Washington. Whether Washington's 
approval of a strong government was the same thing as this passionate later 
faith in the right of the central government to act with sovereign finality as the 
instrument of a single unit, the nation, may be c|Ucstioned. However, there 
can be no doubt that the national idea reaped the fruit sown by the great 
Federalists, notably John Marshall. 



THE FEDERAL PROBLEM 



299 



acceptance by the Westerners, a tremendous force in American 
politics, destined to work the greatest revolution of our history. 

II. SLAVERY COMPLICATIONS 

434. The Parts of the West. The political situation about 
1818 may be described thus : the South and the West were 
mainly Republican (Democratic). They upheld the American 
system and a protective tariff, while in the Middle Atlantic 
states and in New England many manufacturers were also 
finding it to their advantage to join the Republicans and profit 
by their poHcy. It seemed that before long the last remnant 
of the Federalists would disappear and the minority group 
of states would surrender unconditionally to the majority 
group. But all this triumphal career of the new party 
depended upon maintaining a " solid West." Suddenly it 
was revealed that the West contained within it possibilities 
of division, that there was a northern West and a southern 
West, that the two parts of the West might easily fly asunder, 
and that if they did so their division would break the whole 
Union into two sections — North and South — with opposing 
interests too different to be reconciled. This startling knowl- 
edge came upon the country so suddenly that Jefferson spoke of 
it as an " alarm bell in the night," that seemed to ring the 
" knell of the Union." 

435. Causes of the Western Division. To understand it 
fully we must go back a little. We saw that when the Union 
was formed, slavery appeared to be passing away. Nowhere, 
except in the malarial rice fields along the coast, was it highly 
profitable. We saw how bitterly opposed to it were the 
Virginians in 1787 (section 336). The movement which the 
Virginians championed had quietly continued its course and 
one after another the Northern states had abolished slavery, 
without serious opposition. A national colonization society 
was founded to carry free negroes back to Africa^ and was 

1 One result was the negro state of Liberia, in Africa, founded under Ameri- 
can protection in 1821. 



JOO 



AMERICAN HISTORY 




given assistance by Congress. In Virginia itself there was 
still a powerful opposition to slavery. 

However, a great change in economic conditions had been 
brought about through the invention, in 1793, of a machine 
for clearing the seed from the fiber of cotton. This was Eli 
Whitney's cotton gin. By the aid of this machine, cotton 

growing, which 
could now be done 
profitably with 
the crudest negro 
labor, became at 
once the chief 
industry of the 
South. The quan- 
tity of the product 
advanced from a 
few hundred bales 
in 1790 to six 
hundred thousand 
bales in 1830. By reason of the cotton gin, negro slaves 
became valuable property in every cotton growing section. 

Meanwhile, slavery had been affecting the West. Even 
before 1820 it was plain that many settlers avoided those 
parts of the West which were slave-holding. The poorer 
immigrants, who did not want to be forced into competition 
with slave labor, turned toward the northern West, which 
in consequence grew more rapidly than the southern West. 
The statistics of two adjoining states tell the whole story. 
The free state of Ohio^ increased in population from 45,365 in 
1800 to 581,434 in 1820; the slave state of Kentucky in- 
creased, in the same time, from 220,955 ^o 564,317. The 
population of the free state increased tenfold; that of the 
slave state less than threefold. There was the same ratio, 
of course, in the increase of their representation in Congress. 

' Being part of the Northwest Territory (section 320) it was reserved to free 
settlement. 



COTTON GIN 



THE FEDERAL PROBLEM 



30T 



436. The Missouri Question. Such was the state of affairs 
in 1 8 19 when a bill was introduced in Congress to admit to the 
Union the slave-holding territory of Missouri; whereupon, 
James Tallmadge, of New York, proposed to make the ad- 
mission of Missouri conditional upon the abolition of slavery- 
there. This proposition caused a sharp disagreement in Con- 
gress, which adjourned without coming to a conclusion. 




THE UNITED STATES AS DIVIDED BY THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE 



Congress did not meet again for nine months. During 
that time, the Missouri question was the chief topic of popu- 
lar discussion, and in a number of free states the legislatures 
called upon Congress to prohibit slavery in Missouri. In 
the slave states the demand for the maintenance of slavery 
was equally positive. The West divided. Clay, who took 
sides with slavery, found himself unable to control his fol- 
lowers on the north side of the Ohio. When Congress reas- 
sembled in December, 18 19, all other political questions were, 
for the moment, dropped. The division between free-state 
men and slave-state men was the only issue. 

There was a deadlock between the two Houses. It hap- 



302 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



pened that the states of the Union were then evenly divided 
between slavery and non-slavery.^ Each side had twenty- two 
votes in the Senate. But the free states had some six hundred 
thousand more people than the slave states. If the two sides 
kept their forces together, it would never be possible to 
pass a bill admitting Missouri. Here, for the moment, 
was an end of the " solid West " and the collapse of the 
combination of West and South. 

437. The Missouri Compromise. The 
politicians found a way out of their difficulty 
by means of a compromise. Missouri was 
admitted as a slave state, but slavery was 
forever prohibited in all other places north 
of 36 ° 30' north latitude. It was also agreed 
that Maine ^ should enter the Union as a 
free state. Thus the even division in the 
Senate was kept up. " I have favored the 
Missouri Compromise," said John Quincy 
Adams, then secretary of state, " beUeving 
it all that could be effected under the present 
constitution and from extreme unwillingness 
to put the Union at hazard. ... If the 
Union must be dissolved, slavery is precisely 
the question on which it ought to break. 
For the present, however, this contest is 
laid asleep." ' 
Such appeared to be the case. Clay had thrown all his 



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Compromise 




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^ ;Vililed to Srissouri, 
1 1836 

by Act of Congre»» 



FIRST VIOLATION OF 
THE MISSOURI 
COMPROMISE 



'Slave states: Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, 
Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky. Free states : 
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Connecticut, 
Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire. 

' Until this time, Maine had been part of Massachusetts. 

'See Macdonald, "Documents," Nos. 34-41; Benton, "Thirty Years' 
View," I, 8-10; II, 140-143, 745; Von Hoist, "United States," I, chap, ix; 
Schouler, III, 101-103, 147-151, 154-173, 178-188; Turner, "New West," 
chap, x; Burgess, "Middle Period," chap, iv; Schurz, "Clay," I, chap. viii. 

In 183O, Congress enlarged Missouri by adding its present northwest corner. 



THE FEDERAL PROBLEM 303 

influence on the side of compromise and is generally given the 
chief credit for bringing it about. Immediately he had his 
reward. The division in the West was forgotten. Once more 
the combination of West and South dominated politics, with 
Clay as its most conspicuous figure. The Republican (Demo- 
cratic) leaders turned again to the task of advancing their 
party interests in the North and East. 

We must now consider what difficulties had arisen in that 
quarter. 

III. THE TARIFF PROBLEM 

438. Review of Economic Conditions. Again let us go 
back a little. At the time of the embargo of 1807-1808 
(section 405), the country went mad, you might say, in its 
clamor to be revenged upon England and France. Associa- 
tions were formed, the members of which pledged themselves 
not to use any foreign fabrics. Money was subscribed to pay 
bounties to Americans who would set up manufactures. As 
European goods were shut out of the American market, manu- 
factures quickly sprang up. Until the end of the War of 181 2 
foreign manufactures, by one law or another, continued to be 
kept out of the American market. Thus, two forces con- 
tributed to foster our " infant industries " : the people who 
loudly pledged themselves to buy only American products, and 
the government which excluded foreign goods from competition. 

However, these American goods could not be produced as 
cheaply as European goods. When peace was made and the 
Europeans were at last permitted to resume trade with America, 
the factories that had sprung up during the war were under- 
sold by the foreigners. The men who had put their money 
into these factories turned upon the government. They 
said, in substance, " You got us into this predicament ; now 
get us out." 

439. The Champions of the Manufacturers. This demand 
was one to make a special appeal to Clay. He and his West- 
erners were eagerly advocating the idea that the government 



304 AMERICAN HISTORY 

existed to take care of its people. The men who wanted 
milHons of federal money to develop the West would seem 
strangely selfish if they opposed a corresponding assistance to 
the East. Besides, whatever enlarged the markets of the East, 
meant for the West a better chance to sell its produce on this 
side of the ocean. So Clay became a " protectionist," that is, 
he advocated such a tariff on foreign goods as would make the 
cost of them in the American market so high that home 
manufacturers could undersell them. Calhoun took the same 
view. Even more influential, perhaps, than Calhoun was 
another great South Carolinian, William Lowndes. 

Both Lowndes and Calhoun joined Clay in support of the 
tariff of 1816. With these were allied the manufacturers 
of the Middle states and New England. They were opposed 
by the Federalists of New England and by various free lances 
here and there. John Randolph of Virginia warned the 
Southerners that the tariff would turn out to be an advantage 
to the North at the expense of the South. Another great op- 
ponent of the tariff was Daniel Webster of Massachusetts. 
He spoke for the shipowners who would be hurt by anything 
whatever that reduced foreign trade. But the opponents of 
the tariff were not strong enough to check the triple alliance 
of the South, the West, and the manufacturers ; and the tariff 
was established. 

440. Further Demands of the Manufacturers. However, 
the tariff of 181 6 did not fully accomplish its purpose. Foreign 
competitors were not entirely driven from the field, and the 
American manufacturers had great trouble in holding their own. 
Money went out of America to pay for European goods and 
never came back. American business was in a dangerous 
state and no one felt that his investments were quite safe. 
A fondness for speculation became general. In 1819 there 
was a general collapse of business — a " panic," as we say — 
and the manufacturers cried out for a higher tariff. 

441. Second Administration of Monroe. Thus things stood 
at the time of the presidential election of 1820. The Re- 




HENRY CLAY 
From an old print 



THE FEDERAL PROBLEM 305 

publicans (Democrats) appeared to have everything in their 
own hands and the disheartened Federalists made no nomina- 
tion. Monroe was reelected with only one electoral vote 
against him.^ In reality, the Republicans were beginning to 
be divided among themselves and the question of the tariff 
was destined to split the party in pieces. For a time, however, 
though the discontent of the manufacturers steadily increased, 
nothing further was done to assist them. Temporarily the 
tariff controversy was at a standstill. 

It was during this pause in the controversy that the Re- 
publicans (Democrats) scored their last great triumph as a 
united party. This was a formulation of foreign policy known 
to-day as the Monroe Doctrine. Briefly stated, it was a 
notice to European monarchies that the United States would 
resist any attempt to set up absolutism in America. It was 
called forth by the schemes of the so-called " Holy AlUance " 
of absolute monarchies — • Russia, Prussia, Austria, and France. 
The Spanish colonies, which had lately revolted, had declared 
themselves independent republics and had been recognized by 
the United States. The Holy Alliance, however, proposed 
to reconquer them for the king of Spain. Both President 
Monroe and his secretary of state, John Quincy Adams, were 
determined to prevent the conquest. In his message to 
Congress, December, 1823, Monroe summed up the foreign 
policy of the administration in three propositions - : 

I. That the United States should not meddle in the affairs 
of Europe. 

1 There is a tradition that this one was withheld from him merely to preserve 
to Washington the honor of being the only President elected unanimously- 
The short period when there was but one important political party has been 
called the "Era of Good Feeling." 

2 England supported the United States throughout this episode. Except 
for England's support the opposition of the United States might have counted 
for little against the Holy Alliance. Canning, the English prime minister, 
boasted that he had "called the New World into existence to right the balance 
of the Old." 

For the relation between these, events and our dealings with Russia, see the 
section of this chapter devoted to Oregon. 



3o6 AMERICAN HISTORY 

2. That European governments should do likewise and 
not attempt to control the destinies of any American republic. 

3. That the two American continents are no longer open to 
colonization by European powers. 

Such was the celebrated Monroe Doctrine ^ as originally 
formulated. It has played a great part in later history and 
we shall hear of it again. Its immediate effect was to bring to 
an end the schemes of the Holy Alliance touching South 
America. 

442. Consolidation of the Tariff Interests. Meanwhile, 
the demands of the manufacturers became more and more 
urgent. The Westerners, generally, indorsed their demands. 
Factory towns in the East meant a large population that did not 
raise its own food. The West was the great grain-growing 
part of the country and for the West those masses of factory 
population meant an excellent market near at home. Then, 
too, Kentucky was growing hemp, but there would be no market 
for hemp unless the manufacture of it should be undertaken 
in the East. So, as a result of economic conditions, the West 
and a great part of the East were entirely at one about the 
tariff. A vast extent of country, stretching from the Missis- 
sippi all the way to New England, had come to think that 
its prosperity depended upon building up the Eastern manu- 
factures, shutting out European competition, and thus creating 
an American market for the West. The states supporting 
this idea formed a solid block : the two southern New England 
states, — Connecticut and Rhode Island, — all the Middle states 
with the addition of Delaware, and all the Western states 
north of Tennessee. Even Tennessee was not wholly averse 
to it. Maryland was uncertain. 

443. The Division of New England. New England, how- 
ever, was divided. The three staU's of Massachusetts, New 

'See Macdonald, "Documents," No. 43; Hart, " Contcmiwrarics," III. 
No. 142; Moore, "Digest of International Law"; Latanc, ".\mcrica as a 
World Power," 255-268, and "The Diplomatic Relations of the United Slates 
with South America"; Paxson, "The Independence of the South American 
Republics"; Fyfle, "Modern Euroix;," II, chap. i. 



THE FEDERAL PROBLEM 307 

Hampshire, and Maine, had most of their interests on the sea. 
For them, the more Americans bought from Europe, the more 
the condition of things was to be applauded. In these states 
the economic doctrine of free trade had been fully worked 
out. Their spokesman was that same Daniel Webster who 
had opposed the tariff of 1816. 

In 1824 there was a famous debate in Congress between 
Clay and Webster, and the contrast in the two j&gures made 
an impression that was long remembered. The Kentuckian 
was brilliant, gay, witty, captivating. The New Englander, 
a grand, dark-looking man, was acute and formidable. Webster 
put forth one of the ablest arguments for free trade ever 
formulated by an American. Clay replied for the protection- 
ists with the liveliness, the oratorical effect, the imagination, 
which had made him famous. He argued boldly against 
the interests of the shipowning classes and drew up his final 
scheme for an " American system " which was to establish 
home markets and Hnk them with all parts of the country 
through a vast system of internal improvements. 

444. Tariff and the Presidency. There were several reasons 
why the tariff controversy reached a critical stage in 1824. 
For one thing, there was intense rivalry among the Republican 
leaders for the nomination for President. The states in which 
protection was desired were just about strong enough, if they 
held together, to dictate the choice of President, and the 
friends of the tariff saw that now was the time to strike, when 
all the party leaders would hate to oppose them. As 
we have seen, Clay promptly came forward as their champion. 

445. The Opposition. The three shipping states now faced 
a great alliance of states that had no regard for their wishes, 
and the New Englanders looked about for alhes, which they 
found in an unexpected quarter. In the eight years since 1816, 
the Southern leaders had perceived that in supporting a 
tariff they were injuring their section. As we have seen, the 
chief industry of the South was cotton growing. But 
only a part of the cotton crop could be disposed of to the 



3o8 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



Northern manufacturers ; the rest had to be sent to England. 
For his exported cotton, the Southerner had to accept the 
EngHsh price, not a Northern price forced up by the tariff ; 
but when the Southerner, who had to take English prices for 
what he sold, wanted to have the benefit of English prices 
in what he bought, the tariff prevented him. On whatever 
he bought in England, he had to pay duty before he could get 
it into the United States. Naturally, the South changed front 

on the subject of the tariff. 
A new leader, Robert Y. 
Hayne,^ appeared in the 
Senate and denied that 
Congress had any right, 
under the Constitution, to 
legislate on behalf of any 
particular section or " for 
the avowed purpose of en- 
couraging any particular 
form of industry." Almost 
the whole South held with 
Hayne. When the House 
voted on the new tariff act 
of 1824, the seven states of 
Virginia, North and South 
Carolina, Georgia, Ala- 
bama, Mississippi, and 
Louisiana cast fifty-one votes against it and only one for it. 
In the Senate all seven states voted against it. The tariff of 
1824 was passed by the Westerners. They broke with the 
South and voted almost solidly for protection. 

446. Rivalries of the Leaders. Having got the tariff out of 
the way, as they thought, the party leaders gave their whole 
thought to their rivalries for the presidency. Calhoun, who 
had stood aside recently and had made an enviable record as 

> It was Hayne who clearly formulated the creed of his party that a tariff 
could be levied " for revenue only." 




ROBERT y. HAYNE 



THE FEDERAL PROBLEM 



309 



secretary of war, was generally accepted as candidate for 
vice president. The leading claimant for the first place ap- 
peared to be Clay, the hero of the hour, who had engineered 
the tariff, and was still the leader of the West. His chief 
rivals were the secretary of state, John Quincy Adams, and the 
secretary of the treasury, William H. Crawford. The latter 
secured the official nomination. The regular caucus (section 
387, note) of Republican (Democratic) members of Congress 
named him as their candidate, but the other factions of the 
party refused to be bound by the action of the caucus. Both 
Adams and Clay were placed in nomination by state legis- 
latures. So was a candidate of a different sort. This was 
Andrew Jackson, the hero of New Orleans. While the poHti- 
cians at Washington had been manipulating the tariff, Jackson 
had been living the rough hfe of a frontier general.^ He had 
won a name for boldness, downrightness, and rugged honesty. 
Two things were in his favor : he was a Westerner and thus 
had a chance against Clay; he had taken no part in the 
tariff battle and therefore had not earned the hostility of 
the South. As Clay and Adams were both protectionists, it 
was not to be expected that they would have much support in 
the states that had opposed their tariff. However, when the 
votes were finally counted, the result was a surprise. Clay, 
the man who had seemed to dominate politics, proved the 
weakest of the four presidential candidates. He had but thirty- 
seven electoral votes out of two hundred sixty-one. Even 
Crawford, who was a man of small ability, went ahead of him 
with forty-one votes. Adams was next, having received eighty- 
four votes. The highest electoral vote, ninety-nine, was given 
to the new man unskilled in politics, Jackson. 

447. Election by the House. But Jackson was not yet 
elected. A majority of all the electoral votes are necessary 
for a choice. When no candidate receives a majority, the 
Constitution provides that the three candidates leading the 

1 See sections 417, 431, note; 454, note. As to Jackson's political signifi- 
cance, see sections 481, 482. 



3IO 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



vote shall become candidates in a second election which shall 
take place in the House of Representatives. Only these three 
may be voted on by the House. Thus it happened that the 
name of Clay could not come up in the second election. His 
followers helped to secure a majority in the House for John 
Quincy Adams. Quite naturally he made Clay secretary of 
state. Thus the two chief protectionists became the chief men 

of the new administration. 
448. The Anti-Protec- 
tionists. The followers of 
Jackson and Crawford now 
made common cause. Craw- 
ford was in failing health, 
and presently both factions 
merged in one. All through 
Adams's term they fought 
in Congress every measure 
the administration pro- 
posed, and though Adams's 
followers in the House 
passed a new tariff bill, it 
was defeated in the Senate 
by the casting vote of the 
vice president, Calhoun. 
The protectionists, however, did not abate their demands. 
A national convention of protectionists was held at Harrisburg 
in 1827. A new Congress which assembled that year con- 
tained a protectionist majority, and in 1828 Congress again 
took up the question of raising the tariff so as to satisfy the 
demands of the West and of the manufacturers. As soon as it 
was known that Congress would attempt to increase duties, 
protests were made in the South. The Charleston chamber 
of commerce sent a remonstrance to Congress, denouncing 
the proposed increase in the tariff as unjust and unconstitu- 
tional. Both North and South Carolina made official protests. 
Alabama declared that the power to protect manufacturers 




From the painting by John Singleton Copley. 
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 



THE FEDERAL PROBLEM 



311 



had never been granted to Congress, that it tended to make a 
few rich and the majority wretched. Georgia declared that 
she would not submit to that broad constructionist view of the 
Constitution which made possible sectional legislation. 

449. Changed Attitude of New England. At this point we 
encounter another of those startling changes in the grouping of 
political forces so characteristic of the time. Upper New Eng- 
land began facing about toward protection. This was due to 
an economic revolution, the result of the tariff of 1824, by which 
the shipping industry had been 
ruined. Many shipowners had 
been forced out of business. 
Whenever possible, New Eng- 
land capitahsts had sold their 
ships, made the best of a bad 
bargain, and put what money 
they had left into manufac- 
tures. Webster, the spokesman 
of Massachusetts, now added 
his voice to the other advocates 
of protection. " You forced 
this upon us," said he, in sub- 
stance, to the rest of the coun- 
try, "and we have changed our 
investments because we had to. We have suffered in doing 
so. We won't consent to suffering still more by changing 
them back agaifi." ^ Therefore he abandoned free trade. 

450. The Tariff of Abominations. The debate in Congress 
over the tariff of 1828 was more bitter than any that had gone 
before. John Randolph said that the new tariff would ' ' plunder 
nearly one half of the Union for the benefit of the residue." 
Hayne declared that it " was calculated to sever the bonds 
of the Union." A senator from Maryland denounced the 
bill as a " tariff of abominations." As " the tariff of abomina- 




STATES CONTROLLED BY PROTEC- 
TIONISTS, 1828. See note below. 



1 The Massachusetts delegation in the House opposed the tariff, 
however, as events prove, expressed the real attitude of his state. 



Webster, 



312 AMERICAN HISTORY 

tions " it is known to this day. Nevertheless the bill passed 
both Houses and was signed by the President. 

IV. NULLIFICATION 

451. Election of Jackson. The presidential campaign of 
1828 was chiefly a personal rivalry between the two Republican 
(Democratic) leaders, Adams and Jackson. The breaking 
of the dominant party in two was further helped on by the 
adoption of a special name by each faction. The adminis- 
tration faction called themselves National Republicans ; the 
opposition took the name of Republican Democrats, or simply 
Democrats. 

As little as possible was said about the tariff in this election. 
The new law was so extreme in its provisions that there was a 
reaction against it almost at once, but the administration had 
pushed it through and could not disown it. Nevertheless, the 
opposition shrank from making it an issue. ^ They dared not 
alarm the manufacturers and contented themselves with 
giving out that their candidate, Jackson, was a moderate 
protectionist. By this time, the northeastern states were solid 
for protection; they gave all their electoral votes to Adams. The 
South, on the other hand, chose what it considered the lesser 
of two evils and supported Jackson. In the Middle and West- 
ern states each candidate had a following. The Jackson 
following proved to be far the stronger, giving its candidate 
one hundred seventy-eight electoral votes against eighty-three 
for Adams. 

452. South Carolina Exposition. In the very year of 
Jackson's election the legislature of South Carolina decided 
to make a formal statement of its position on the tariff.^ It 

1 In point of fact the worst features of the tariff had been forced into it by the 
Jackson men in Congress. Their scheme was to maivc it so obnoxious that 
President Adams would have to veto it and thus appear before the country as 
an enemy of the manufacturers. We have seen that he refused to be put in that 
position. 

* There has been much debate whether the economic troubles of the South, 
about 1830, were really caused by the tariff or can be traced to other sources. 



THE FEDERAL PROBLEM 313 

turned to Calhoun who composed a state paper known there- 
after as the" South Carolina Exposition." Calhoun was now the 
chief enemy of protection.^ He shared a widespread belief that 
his section was on the verge of ruin and that only by getting 
rid of protection could it be saved. He saw that the Southern 
states had come to be related to the rest of the Union, much 
as were the New England states at the time of the Hartford 
Convention (section 416). In a word, it had become plain 
to Calhoun's mind that all other questions then before the 
country were outgrowths of a single question at the back of 
them all. This was the question of the power of a majority 
of the states to enforce its will upon a minority. As we have 
seen, this was no new question. Madison had sought to 
prevent it by requiring a two-thirds vote in Congress to make 
laws on a sectional matter (section 335). The Hartford Con- 
vention also thought that the minority would be protected if 
two thirds of Congress were required to assent to all bills 
regulating certain vital matters (section 416). At the same 
time, as we have seen, it was freely asserted that each state 
should judge for itself how long it would stay in the Union. 
Calhoun was animated by two feelings : he wished earnestly 
to secure the minority of the states against dictation from the 
majority ; he loved the Union and wanted to preserve it. 

But he comprehended that the task of holding together the 
American Union was becoming a delicate problem. To gov- 
ern an immense area occupied by communities with varying 
local conditions, appeared to him, after sixteen years spent in 
Congress and the cabinet, a matter of what should not be 
done quite as much as of what should be. Even that rough- 
But it can hardly be doubted that the tariff was a real burden upon the South, 
even if we conclude that it was not so deadly as, at that moment, it was supposed 
to be. 

^ The enemies of Calhoun accused him of insincerity because, having begun as 
a supporter of Clay, nationalism, and the tariff, he subsequently repudiated 
all three. His defense was simply that he upheld the nationalists just so long 
as their policy did not injure his own state but left them the moment it began 
to do so. 



314 AMERICAN HISTORY 

and-ready plan of requiring the majority in Congress to rep- 
resent two thirds of the people involved, did not satisfy 
him. A lawyer and a student of liistory, Calhoun remembered 
that in court we require the jury to be unanimous in its verdict ; 
also that in the Roman republic there were at one time two 
divisions of the citizenship and that a law had to satisfy both 
in order to be binding. He was struck by the case of Poland, 
where a law had to have the unanimous assent of the national 
Diet. On these observations he based a formal political argu- 
ment. It is known as " the theory of nulHfication." Con- 
densed, it amounts to this : in order to protect a minority of 
the states against harmful dictation by the majority we should 
limit the action of Congress to those subjects upon which all 
the states are agreed ; and in order to make sure that Congress 
will not overstep the mark, each state should have power 
to nulhfy — that is, reject — such legislation as it considers 
injurious to itself. 

To many Southerners this doctrine of nulUfication appeared 
to be a happy compromise between breaking up the Union and 
surrendering to the majority. It appealed to the strong local 
feeling so deeply laid in the hearts of the men of the southeast. 
These people had not undergone, as had the northeast, a social 
revolution. Neither were there many newcomers among 
them. Almost all had inherited a deep, unwavering attach- 
ment to their own community. Furthermore, the new western 
feeling for the country as a whole, the western indifference 
as to which state one happened to live in, was to these men 
past understanding. So, also, was the feeling of the recent 
immigrants who were pouring into the Northern states and 
to whom, as yet, one state meant as much as another. And 
finally, they believed sincerely that the prosperity of their 
state would pass away if they submitted much longer to the 
dictation of the majority in Congress. 

453. Growth of Nationalism. However, the doctrine of 
nullification aroused vigorous opposition. Even in South 
Carolina it was not at once accepted. In the North and 



THE FEDERAL PROBLEM 315 

West it served as a challenge to the national idea (sections 432, 
433). That idea had made great advances. All the rem- 
nant of the Federalist party had accepted it.^ The national 
Republicans were ready to accept it and most of them had 
already done so. Many causes combined to strengthen this 
conception of the central government as a power, now inde- 
structible, whose right to rule should not be questioned. 
Hosts of people had come to look upon that government as 
the main source of their prosperity. The minds of political 
thinkers were quickened by the great possibilities opened in 
politics by the national idea. It must also be remembered 
that the Americans were a proud and impetuous people whose 
ancestors had been members of a great empire. When not 
absorbed in their local problems, their instinct was for a 
state that should be large and magnificent, one of the mighty 
ones of the earth. All these feelings found expression in a 
famous speech of Daniel Webster in the Senate in 1830. He 
and Senator Hayne had been drawn into a discussion known 
to-day as " the Great Debate." Hayne stated with admirable 
clearness and force the doctrine of nullification. Webster 
in reply gave the national idea its first literary expression. 
The close of his speech was a famous apostrophe to the Ameri- 
can flag. It is not too much to say that his powerful phrasing 
unified the national idea, gave it form and expression, and con- 
verted a vague feeling into a fixed belief. However men felt 
toward the Union previous to 1830, it is certain that thereafter 
thousands of Americans looked upon it as sacred, and were 
willing to die for it, if need be. They felt for it precisely as 
Hayne felt for his State.^ 

^ The contention that they held it all along must be taken cautiously, 
remembering the Hartford Convention. 

- In the states' rights view, the Union was a mere league of sovereign 
republics and the Constitution a " compact " which any of the states could ter- 
minate at pleasure. The nationalists held that the central government had been 
set up by the people of all the states acting together and that the Constitution 
was an "instrument" through which the mass of the American people had ex- 
pressed their will. They held that the ancient sovereignty of the English crown 
had been transferred to this central authority and not to the states. 



3i6 AMERICAN HISTORY 

454. The Jackson Toast. Another significant assertion 
of the national idea took place at a public dinner this same 
year. The President proposed a toast, " Our Federal Union : 
it must be preserved." For some time thereafter, his great 
influence was thrown on the side of Webster and the nationalists 
and against the South Carolinians.^ 

455. Triumph of the Protectionists. Another bold assertion 
of nationahsm came from Clay. In 1832 Congress again 
took up the question of the tariff. Clay, on behalf of the pro- 
tectionists, made one of his most famous speeches. In the 
course of it he said : " The majority must govern, from which 
there can be no appeal but to the sword. ... If each one, or 
several states, being a minority, can by menacing a dissolu- 
tion of the Union, succeed in forcing an abandonment of 
great measures deemed essential to the interests and prosperity 
of the whole, the Union from that moment is practically 
gone." He consented to various reductions of duty but on the 
general principle of protection stood firm. The new bill was 
passed and the President signed it. The indignation in South 
Carolina knew no bounds. 

456. Jackson's Second Election. It was now time for 
another presidential election. A new device had lately been 
introduced into national politics — the nominating conven- 
tion. The National Republicans held a convention and 
nominated Clay. The Democratic national convention nomi- 

^ It was once believed that a personal quarrel with Calhoun was the chief 
explanation of Jackson's course. We need not take so trivial a view of his 
motives. Nevertheless, it is plain that recently he had become incensed against 
his great antagonist. Enemies of Calhoun at a critical moment revealed to 
Jackson the fact that long before, when in the First Seminole War he executed 
Arbuthnot and Ambrister (section 431, note) Calhoun, then secretary of war, 
condemned his action. This knowledge caused great bitterness in Jackson and 
changed his attitude toward Calhoun, but undoubtedly was not the cause of his 
opposition to nullification. His temper was, first of all, military; he was the 
last man to brook insubordination, and nullification appeared to his soldierly 
instinct as next door to mutiny. Furthermore, he was greatly influenced by a 
small group of personal friends who were st\led by their enemies the "kitchen 
cabinet," This group was hostile to Calhoun. 



THE FEDERAL PROBLEM 



317 



nated Jackson. South Carolina, bitter against both, gave its 
electoral vote to John Floyd of Virginia.^ Fifteen states out 
of twenty-four chose Jackson electors, giving him two hundred 
nineteen electoral votes out of two hundred eighty-eight. 

457. Nullification Ordinance. Meanwhile South Carolina 
had determined to defy the central government. The legisla- 
ture called a state convention which met November 19, 1832, 
This convention passed an ordinance of nullification, which 
declared the tariff acts of 1828 and 1832 " null, void, and no 
law, nor binding upon this state, its officers or citizens." It 
instructed the legislature to resist the enforcement of the tariff 
in South Carolina after February i, 1833, ^^d declared that if 
the United States attempted to exact further payment of 
duties " the people of this state will forthwith proceed to 
organize a separate government." Soon afterward Calhoun 
resigned the vice presidency and was elected a senator from 
South Carolina. 

458. Jackson's Proclamation. Jackson allowed no one 
to be in doubt as to what he meant to do. A proclamation 
was issued by the President (December 10, 1832), which was 
largely the work of his able secretary of state, Edward 
Livingston.^ It set forth the doctrines of the nationahsts in 
the strongest terms. " The Constitution of the United States 
forms a government," said the proclamation, " not a league. 
. . . The laws of the United States must be executed. . . . 
Disunion by armed force is treason." Jackson ordered a 
sloop of war to Charleston and directed General Winfield Scott 
to prepare to collect by force the customs in South Carolina. 
War between the United States and South Carolina seemed 
about to break out. 

^ There was also an "anti-Mason" party, which nominated William Wirt, of 
Virginia, and carried one state, Vermont. The history of this party is one of 
the oddities of history. A man named Morgan had professed to reveal the 
secrets of the Masonic order. Subsequently he disappeared. It was reported 
that he had been murdered. On this slight foundation, an anti-Masonic 
excitement was worked up. It passed almost as suddenly as it came. 

^ He had succeeded Van Buren, who was now vice president. 



3i8 AMERICAN HISTORY 

459. The Compromise of 1833. From this desperate situa- 
tion the country was dcHvered by the adroitness of Clay. 
Congress was induced to pass two bills : one granted all that 
the nullifiers could wish in the way of a reduction of the tariff ; 
the other, called the " Force Bill," authorized the President 
to raise armed forces to deal with the emergency. Thus the 
government yielded on the particular point, the tariff, while 
declaring it would never yield its general proposition, namely, 
that no state had the right to obstruct a federal law. Practi- 
cally, the nullifiers had carried the day. The compromise 
tariff of 1833 provided for a gradual reduction of the rates until 
1842 ; thereafter the comparatively low rates were to continue. 
The nullifiers accepted this as virtual surrender on the part of 
Congress ; they repealed their ordinance , and the crisis was over. 

460. The Final Issue. This episode marks a momentous 
point in the great contention over the relation of the states 
in the Union. On the one hand, the nationalist sentiment 
had been fully expressed and a powerful following refused 
to consider resistance to the central government as anything 
but treason. On the other hand, the opposite theory had 
been carried to its logical result in the doctrine that unani- 
mous consent of all the states was necessary to federal legisla- 
tion. It remained to be seen which of these theories, or what 
compromise between the two, would finally prevail. 

Selections from the Sources. Johnson, Readings, 299-336 ; Mac- 
DONALD, Source Book, Nos. 72-80, 85-87; Documents, Nos. 33-42, 
44, 45, 47-49, 53, 55, 56; Ames, State Documents on Federal Relations, 
Nos. 3, 4, 1-31 ; Hart, Contemporaries, II, Nos. 130-150; J. Q. Adams, 
Memoirs, IV-VI ; Benton, Thirty Years' View, I, 1-49, 70-118; 
Thwaites, Early Western Travels; Works of Clay and Calhoun; Hill, 
Liberty Documents, chaps, xix, xx. 

Secondary Accounts. Wilson, American People, III, 234-255; 
IV, 21-38; Division and Reunion, sees. 2-10, 25-33; Hart, Forma- 
tion of the Union, 119; Stanwood, Presidency, 106-150; Turner, New 
West; ScHOULER, United States, II, 205-278, 446-463; III, 1-178, 189- 
450; IV, chap, xiii ; McMaster, United States, III, 123-142, 459-5^4; 
IV, 280-380, 381-521, 570-681 ; V, 148-177 ; Adams, United States, IX, 



THE FEDERAL PROBLEM 319 

106-242 ; GoRDY, Political Parties, II, 333-389, 445-581 ; Peck, Jackson- 
ian Epoch, 1-122, 158-161, 193-274 ; Dewey, Financial History, sees. 66- 
80; SxANWOOD, American Tarif Controversies, I, 11 1-348; Hinsdale, 
Old Northwest, 313-328, 351-367, 380-392 ; Hosmer, Mississippi Valley, 
153-167; ^VARKS, Expansion, 220-274; Semple, Geographic Conditions, 
150-168, 246-277 ; CoMAN, Industrial History, 184-227 ; Hart, Founda- 
tions of American Foreign Policy, 21 1-2 18; Latane, United States and 
Spanish America, 9-105; Sato, La^td Question, 53-60; Oilman, James 
Monroe, 128-179, 191-202; Morse, /. Q. Adams, 107-118, 122-250; 
ScHURZ, Henry Clay, I, 1-47, 126-3 11 J Sumner, Andrew Jackson, 60- 
150; Brown, Andrew Jackson, 87-117; Thayer, John Marshall; 
Lodge, Daniel Webster, 60-166; Shepard, Martin Van Buren, 88-176; 
McLaughlin, Lem^ Cass, 1-33, 92-132, 139-149; Hunt, Calhoun, 60- 
197 ; Houston, Critical Study of Nullification; Jervey, Robert Y. 
Hayne, 32-45, 93-98, 230-377 ; Roosevelt, Benton, 1-87. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. The American System. 2. The 
Bonus Bill. 3. The Sources of Nationalism. 4. The Rise of the 
Cotton Industry. 5. The Debates on the Missouri Question. 
6. Jackson in Florida. 7. The Treaty of 1818. 8. The Treaty of 
1819. 9. Origin of the Protective Tariff. 10. New England and the 
Tariff of 1824. 11. The South and the Tarifif of 1828. 12. The 
Monroe Doctrine. 13. The Second Bank of the United States. 
14. The Great Debate. 15. The South Carolina Exposition. 



CHAPTER XXII 

THE DUAL REVOLUTION 

461. Nationalism and the Railroads. The conflict of 
ideas which was outlined in the previous chapter was deeply 
afifected by several things. Among these were railroads. 
What chance the national idea would have had without 
railroads is, of course, a vain speculation. Before rail- 
roads were built the various parts of the country had so 
little connection that the likeHhood of their fusing was shght. 
Before that could happen there had to be estabHshed a general 
sense of common interests, common feeling, common mode of 
life. How could such community come about among a group 
of peoples not intimately connected? Intimate connection 
of all the states was made possible by the railroads. Quick 
communication, rapid interchange of commodities, led the 
way toward a general fusion of interests such as the national 
idea demanded. 

462. First Long Railroad. Our first steam locomotive was 
brought over from England in 1829. In 1830 Peter Cooper 
built the first American locomotive. The " first long railroad 
in the world " was completed in 1834 from Charleston, South 
Carolina, to Hamburg, opposite Augusta, a distance of one 
hundred thirty-four miles. 

463. New Economic Force. At first the states looked on 
railroads as merely a new kind of public highway. Many 
states set to building them, or aided companies to do so by 
grants of money. But a difficulty appeared in the fact that 
soon railroads began to extend from one state into another. 
How to adjust the management of the portions of a road, 
when each was owned by a separate state, was a problem. By 

320 



THE DUAL REVOLUTION 



321 



degrees these state lines passed into private hands. Thus 
a new economic force was created which stimulated national- 
ism. Business corporations which were in daily action in 
more than one state would, inevitably, use their influence 
against the theory that those states might, at any moment, 
draw apart. 

464. Growth of Railroads. During twenty years (1830- 
1850), there was a great deal of railroad building. By 1850, 
lines of railroad ran along the seaboard from Portland, Maine, 
to Wilmington, North Carolina. Long arms thrown out from 





A RAILROAD TRAIN OF 1830 COMPARED WITH A MODERN LOCOMOTIVE 

this seaboard system crossed the mountains and touched the 
lakes and the headwaters of the Ohio. Another series of roads 
had their seaboard terminals at Charleston and Savannah, 
and extended west and northwest as far as Chattanooga. 
Still another system was located in Ohio and Indiana. By 
the end of another decade, only thirty years after the con- 
struction of our first locomotive, the three main systems had 
been linked together ; thousands of miles of additional road 
had been built ; and all the country east of the Mississippi 
was covered by a network of railroads, much as it is to-day. 

465. Northern and Southern Roads. For various reasons 
the building of railroads went forward more rapidly in the 
North than in the South. The cotton-growing states traded 
with England more than with the North or with each other, and 
most of them had a seaboard. Those that had no seaboard, — 



322 



AMERICAN raSTORY 



Arkansas, for example, which was admitted into the Union 
in 1836, — had good river communication with the sea. There- 
fore, the Southern states did not need intercommunication as 
the Northern states did.^ Here, again, circumstances in one 
section strengthened one idea, and in the other strengthened 
an opposite idea. Western states, without a seaboard and 
with their chief market in the East, grew daily more conscious 
of the dependence of the parts of the country on each other ; 




TEE SAVANNAH 

thought less and less about Europe ; became more aggressively 
American. The Southern states, on the other hand, each in 
direct communication with England, having the minimum 

1 There was little trouble about getting the cotton to market. English ships 
were always ready to carry it. American ships, in spite of the misfortunes of 
the shipowners, continued to do business. The American "clipper" ships — 
fast-sailing wooden vessels — were accounted the best of the kind in the world. 
They held their own, as freight ships, long after steam came into general use at 
sea. A steamer, the Savannah, in 1819 crossed in twenty-si.x days from Savan- 
nah to Liverpool. In 1840 the first oceanic steamship line was established 
between Liverpool and Boston. As ships increased in size, hari)ors had to be 
improved. The "American system" was at once extended to warrant con- 
gressional apjjfopriations for "rivers and harbors." Like the tarid, this matter 
became a source of bitter controversy. 



THE DUAL REVOLUTION 323 

of dependence on each other, thought less and less of their 
connection with the Union and increased, if anything, their 
attention to the Old World. 

466. The Coming of Foreigners. Another matter of great 
importance was the difference in the way population changed 
in the North and in the South. In 1830 there were between 
100,000 and 200,000 people who had recently come to America 
from Europe. During the thirty years between 1830 and 
i860, the foreign-born population increased to more than four 
millions. Nine tenths of it, roughly speaking, settled in the 
North and West. This was due, mainly, to the refusal of 
the free immigrants to compete with slave labor.^ These thirty 
years are among the most significant in our history, and 
throughout this period the parallel between Ohio and Ken- 
tucky (section 435) continues to be instructive. From 1830 to 
1840 Kentucky's population was increased by 91,000; the 
population of Ohio in the same decade increased 581,000.^ 
From 1840 to 1850 Kentucky increased in population 202,000 ; 
Ohio, 460,000. From 1850 to i860 Kentucky's increase was 
173,000 ; Ohio's, 359,000. In i860 the population of Kentucky 
was a little over a million; that of Ohio, considerably over 
two million and a quarter. Comparing the increase of Ohio 
with that of an old seaboard state of the South, Hke South 
Carohna, the result is startling. In the decade during which 
Ohio was increased by half a million. South Carohna was in- 
creased by only 13,213. These figures tell their own story. 
The newcomers went almost altogether to the North and 
the northern West. 

467. Reenforcement of Nationalism. Inevitably the new- 
comers reenforced the national idea. This was due to several 
causes. First of all, they took it for granted. To every 

^ Furthermore, the absence of mountains in the Northwest made it easy for 
the pioneer farmer to get a start. 

■ In 1830 Kentucky had 687,000; Ohio, 937,000. Thus it is plain that the 
gain of Ohio in population was out of all proportion to the natural rate of 
increase. 



324 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



European the idea of a strong national government which 
branded every internal opponent a " traitor" seemed a matter 
of course. Second, these people had no conception in advance 
of any particular American state, but all had a preconception 
of the United States as a whole. Third, they quickly learned 
that the commercial system which made possible their new Ufe 
was the work not of separate states but of the central govern- 
ment. Fourth, a great many of these newcomers were philo- 
sopliical radicals. Such was the case, especially after the failure 
of the revolutionary movement that swept over Europe 
in 1848. Thousands of German university men fled to the 
United States to escape imprisonment or execution. These 
men were bold idealists who had risked their lives for their 
principles. We shall see what their principles were hereafter. 
The point now is that this group desired a powerful American 
government to make their ideahsm effective not only in Amer- 
ica but throughout the world. 

468. The South Stationary. The changes in population 
among the Southern states form a contrast that is full of 
meaning. The older states practically stood still. Their 
increase in population, generally speaking, was less than the 
natural increase of one generation over the preceding one. This 
meant that a considerable part of each new generation was 
drawn away from its native state and not replaced by new- 
comers. In this connection the statistics of the old rivals, 
Massachusetts and South Carolina, sum up the differences 
between North and South. South Carolina in 1830 had a 
little over nineteen people to the square mile, while Massa- 
chusetts had seventy -five. In i860 South CaroHna had some 
twenty-three to the square mile ; Massachusetts, one hundred 
fifty-three. The Southern state had increased only about 
one fifth ; the Northern state had doubled. 

469. Disadvantages of Slavery. The explanation of all 
this lies in the fact that slave labor is wasteful and requires 
a large amount of fresh land in order to be profitable. In a 
state like South Carolina, it soon became necessary for some 



THE DUAL REVOLUTION 325 

members of each rising generation to go West to seek their 
fortunes. At home, it was not possible for all of them to keep 
up the style of living to which they were accustomed. Slave 
labor and the lack of manufactures thus compelled the South- 
ern population to spread out over wider and wider areas. In 
Massachusetts, on the other hand, the growth of business 
enabled population to concentrate so that almost everybody 
could find something to do that was profitable. So arose this 
other sharp contrast between North and South. In the 
North, everything was in a bustle : there was opportunity for 
all. The result was a buoyant, optimistic temper. In the South, 
men looked about them and saw their population practically 
at a standstill ; they saw many of their young men forced 
westward into new states along the Mississippi ; they saw the 
power of those thriving Northern states in the House of Rep- 
resentatives growing from year to year ; ^ they recalled how 
merciless had been the action of the majority in Congress 
whenever it had set its heart on advancing its interests. 
Naturally a feeling of despair threatened to make its way into 
the Southern mind with the inevitable consequence of a great 
intensification of local feeling. The citizen of a Southern 
state began to feel that his home and his inherited style of 
living were dear possessions threatened with destruction. 
He rallied his friends about them. His thought of them be- 
came more and more fond and uncompromising. Presently 
his whole mental and emotional life came to center in one 
purpose — the preservation of the individual character of 
the life of liis beloved state. 

470. Imagination in Politics. These silent economic forces 
were separating the North from the South with irresistible 
power. To these was added a force to which historians do 
not always do justice. This was literature.^ It has been said, 

' In 1830 the North had one hundred twenty-three representatives, the South, 
ninety; in i860 the North had one hundred forty-seven, the South, still ninety. 

2 No literary movement can ever be sharply separated from the preceding 
and following periods. The first American writer after 1800 who attained great 



326 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



" Let me make the ballads of a country and let who will make 
the laws." In other words, the conception of things made 
current by the writers of a country counts for more, in the 
long run, than the acts of the poHticians. Our country's 
experience reaffirms this ancient truth. The stir and 
ferment throughout America about 1830 roused in many 
Americans the literary impulse ; thereupon, through the re- 
actions of the literary activity of the country the mental en- 
ergies of the American people became vastly more powerful. 




LONGFELLOW'S HOUSE, CAMBRIDGE 

Men of intellectual force, responding to the tense atmosphere 
of the times, looked about them for great subjects with 
which to delight their souls and found what they sought 
through discovering and expressing those ideals, not hitherto 
phrased, by which their brothers, the men of action, were 



excellence was Washington Irving. He published his "Knickerbocker History 
of New York" in 1809. William Cuilen Bryant wrote "Thanatopsis " in 181 1. 
James Fcnimore Cooper began his long series of Indian tales in 1821. William 
Giimore Simms issued his first volume of poems. in 1827. Edgar Allan Poe also 
began publishing in 1827; Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1828. 



THE DUAL REVOLUTION 327 

impelled to their great undertakings. These writers and 
dreamers discovered among others two lofty themes, one of 
which had stolen unaware into the heart of the North, the 
other into the heart of the South, 

Of these two themes, both of which appear and reappear 
throughout the long drama of history, one, from most ancient 
times, has embodied a sentiment of intense tenderness for one's 
immediate world, a sentiment that makes of that world an 
object of veneration, a precious thing which one longs to pre- 
serve intact. Many peoples have held this sentiment so de- 
votedly that it has stood in their way when they have wished 
to combine with others in a confederacy. It was the perfec- 
tion of this sentiment that made the Greek incapable of con- 
solidating his beautiful little city-states into an empire. To 
men who feel this sentiment in its strength, the thought of 
submerging their own state in another is as bitter as the thought 
of destroying the lives of their parents. 

An imposing antithesis to this sentiment of the sacredness 
of locality is that austere ideal of empire which was the inspira- 
tion of the Romans. Not theirs the passionate tenderness 
of the Greek's love of his home city ; instead there was the 
towering military conception, the eager foreseeing in imagina- 
tion of the day when the Roman trumpets should sound vic- 
torious upon the farthest limits of the world. Men possessed 
by this Roman ideal grow careless of the loveliness of their 
homeland and concentrate their thoughts upon a vision of 
grandeur. As beauty was the end of the Greek vision, power 
was the end of Rome's. 

It is not wholly fanciful to think that these two immortal 
ideals had cast their shadows upon the hearts of the Ameri- 
cans, the Greek ideal in the South, the Roman ideal in the 
North. It was the Roman sense of things, the poetry of an 
imperial career, that thrilled the Northern nationahst in his 
literary response to the pervasive energy of the times. Seeking 
an outlet for his enthusiasm he found it through the same 
subjects that had so charmed his brothers and cousins who 



328 AMERICAN HISTORY 

had been lured away into the West — the vastness of their 
country, the grandeur of its future, the might and majesty of 
its government, the imperial signilicance of the American 
flag. Before long there was a notable group that drew in- 
spiration, directly or indirectly, from the national idea — 
Bryant, Whittier, Longfellow, Lowell, Hawthorne, Emerson, 
Prescott, Motley, Bancroft, Parkman, Webster. These 
men continued the subtle transformation of the national 
idea begun by Webster in his speech against Hayne. The 
more they wrote and thought about it, the more enthusiastic 
they became and the more surely they communicated their 
enthusiasm to others. They crowned the national idea with 
a halo of reverent faith. They dreamed of a grand, young, 
irresistible Western power that was to be the knight errant 
among nations which should, at last, set free all the oppressed 
of the world. ^ They gave poetic voice to the nationahsm of 
the North and West, and framed a sonorous poHtical creed to 
express its longings. Longfellow at last summed up their 
behef in his famous lines : 

Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State ! 
Sail on, O Union, strong and great ! 
Humanity with all its fears. 
With all the hopes of future years, 
Is hanging breathless on thy fate ! 

Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea ! 
Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee, 
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears. 
Our faith triumphant o'er our fears. 
Are all with thee — are all with thee ! 

471. A Strange Ally of Nationalism. In counting up the 
forces that made for nationalism we must not forget another 
which did its work unwittingly. You would not think that 

' It is worth remembering that almost without exception they were deeply 
influenced by German thought, especially by tiie philosophical literature that 
was involved in the revolution of 1848. See Faust, "German Element in the 
United States." 




DANIEL WEBSTER 



CoKi-U-sy of The Piang Co 



THE DUAL REVOLUTION 



329 



people who called the Constitution " a covenant with death " 
and an " agreement with hell " would do much to buttress the 
national idea. Nevertheless, in spite of themselves they did 
so. These violent people were a new kind ^ of opponent of 
slavery — the " aboHtionists." To understand their signifi- 
cance we must understand the exact condition of the slavery 
question at the date of their appearance. 

We have seen that in the eighteenth century slavery was 
supposed to be dying out, and that the Virginians strove hard 



^ ^^ if 




PICKING AND LOADING COTTON 



to destroy it ; but we have also seen how a change in economic 
conditions produced a new group of capitalists, the so-called 
"cotton interest" that repudiated the Virginia tradition and 
sought to make friends for slavery. Almost the last act of the 
great career of Jefferson was his opposition, in 1825, to this 



^ One of the great mistakes of the time was a failure to distinguish between the 
various sorts of antislavery men. At least four distinct groups must be recog- 
nized : (i) the old-time antislavery liberals, who wished to abolish the in- 
stitution legally, such men as Jefferson; (2) the abolitionists, who treated it 
in a religious spirit and would consent to nothing but forcible emancipation, 
like Garrison; (3) the Free Soilers, who wanted to exclude it from the terri- 
tories and leave it to die of economic competition in the states, like Charles 
Francis Adams ; (4) the German idealists, who were for abolishing slavery but 
had not Garrison's vindictive temper, like Carl Schurz (section 467). 



330 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



new attitude of friendliness to slavery.^ In 1831 a scheme 
of gradual emancipation was debated in the Virginia legisla- 
ture. At that time, a vigorous movement toward emanci- 
pation was under way in various parts of the South. In 
Alabama it was led by James G. Birney, of whom we shall hear 
again. The Southern emancipationists - hailed with delight 
the Virginian plan, but it was not destined to prevail. The 
committee to which it was referred finally rejected it by a 
majority of one. 

Just what influence brought about this rejection is a matter 
of dispute,^ but from that time forward there was increased 
vigor in the movement to make friends for slavery and to per- 
suade men that it was a good thing all round — good for both 
black and white. What would have been the result of this 
controversy, had the Southerners been left to fight it out among 
themselves, we cannot say, because, unfortunately, they were 
not permitted to do so. The new friendHness to slavery was 
offset by a new sort of opposition to it. Between 1830 and 
1840 certain extremists began popularizing the idea that 
slavery was a deadly sin which should be visited mercilessly 
on the heads of the present holders of slaves. These agitators 
— the abolitionists, strictly speaking — demanded that 
slavery cease instantly, no matter at what cost to the present 
slaveholders, and declared that remuneration of the holders 
for the loss of their slaves would be the same thing as paying 
a thief for the goods he had stolen. The first conspicuous 
leader of the abolitionists was William Lloyd Garrison. In 
1 83 1 he set up a newspaper in Boston, called The Liberator. 
He and his followers denounced the South with an indiscrim- 
inate vindictiveness hard, at this day, to realize. They made 
use of the impassioned language of the ancient Hebrew 

* He wrote a famous letter denouncing the new attitude. As to how this 
attitude came about, see section 435. 

^ We may use this awkward word because "abolitionist" has become iden- 
tified with the special group represented by William Lloyd Garrison. 

' Recent writers tend to magnify the power of the "cotton interest " and 
trace to its activity all movements that in any way favored slavery. 



THE DUAL REVOLUTION 331 

prophets, calling the Constitution " an agreement with hell " 
because it tolerated slavery. 

472. The Irony of Abolitionism. One of the ironies of 
history is the way the abolitionists unconsciously played 
into the hands of the "cotton interest." Because of their 
fury against the South, and because of a one-sided view of 
Southern life which they recklessly disseminated, it became 
possible to rouse against them all the eager patriotism of 
the Southern people. The whole lamentable controversy 
was summed up, years afterward, by an acute Northern na- 
tionalist, no particular friend of the South, who wrote in his 
private diary this candid review of the whole matter : "it 
began with a few ultra-abolitionists using all manner of irritat- 
ing and aggravating writing and speech. ... It was not a 
kind and candid argument against slavery, but bitter, in- 
sulting and degrading abuse of the slaveholders — calculated 
to incite the slaves against their masters and incite servile 
insurrection. This, of course, enraged the slaveholders and 
they retorted with aggravated asperity, not discriminating 
much, as indeed they could not fully, between the authors 
of such abuse and the North at large." 

473. The Abolitionists demand National Action. However, 
what concerns us here is the effect of this movement on the 
growing cause of nationalism. At first the abolitionists were 
only a handful, with almost everybody against them. In 1835, 
when Garrison tried to hold an abolition meeting in Boston, 
a mob broke it up, tied a rope around him, and dragged him 
through the streets. One of his adherents, Elijah Lovejoy, 
who set up an abolitionist paper at Alton, IlHnois, was mur- 
dered by a mob (1837). Nevertheless, the aboUtionists 
gained ground. They formed a national society with an annual 
convention. OberHn College, in Ohio, became an aboUtionist 
stronghold. In 1835 WiUiam Slade of Vermont made the 
first aboHtion speech in Congress. In 1838 Ohio sent to Con- 
gress the first aboUtion member from the West, Joshua R. 
Giddings. 



332 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Fierce and rebellious as these men were, they had perfect 
courage, never shrinking from the risk of death in pursuit of 
their ideal, and indirectly they increased the general emphasis 
on the national idea. They turned to the central government 
as the one power that might carry out their wishes ^ and abol- 
ish slavery. Petitions were rained upon Congress. Gener- 
ally the petitions asked either for abolition in the District of 
Columbia, or for the suppression of the slave trade among the 
states. 

474. The Gag Rules. The Southern members of Congress, 
unfortunately for their cause, lost their heads and attempted 
to suppress the right of petition. So-called " gag rules " 
were passed. Thereupon ex-President Adams, who now sat 
in Congress as a representative, became the champion of 
the right of petition.^ Year after year, he fought the gag 
rules, warning Congress that if they did not allow complete 
freedom of petition, they would have the people down on them 
" besieging, not beseeching." At last he carried his point, 
and thereafter abolition discussions in Congress were fre- 
quent and bitter. 

475. Abolition embitters the South. This abolition ex- 
citement made still more serious the opening breach between 
the North and the South. It must not be forgotten that the 
abolitionist attack was made at a time when the South felt that 
it was growing poor, when it was in many ways at a standstill, 
and had become extremely resentful of the dictation of a 
majority in Congress. Hence, any misrepresentation of it 
naturally roused it to anger. The moment of the attack was 
unfortunate for another reason. Recently there had been 

^ It is important to note that many schemes in which Northerners and West- 
erners became involved during tlie nineteenth century were of a sort that could 
be made successful only through govrrnmrntal activity. Consequently the North 
and West tended to magnify the function of the government and lost a part, 
at least, of their inherited theory of political individualism. In the South the 
reverse was true. (See section 478.) 

- Attempts were made to censure Adams by vote of llic House in 1837 and 
in 1842. 



THE DUAL REVOLUTION 333 

evidence of a dangerous excitability among the black popula- 
tion. In 1800 there was a slave insurrection in Virginia ; 
in 1822 Denmark Vesey, a free negro, formed a conspiracy to 
burn Charleston; in 183 1 a very horrible insurrection, known 
as Nat Turner's Rebellion, took place in Virginia. These 
startling signs of unrest among the blacks had alarmed the 
whites. They felt that if discussion of the question were 
allowed, it might extend to the slaves and produce another 
insurrection. 

Finally, they repudiated the picture of Southern life painted 
by the abohtionists. They pronounced it sensational and, 
in respect to the general impression conveyed, false. The 
abohtionists made use of such evidence as that of an English 
lady, Fanny. Kemble, who married a Southerner and has left a 
harrowing picture of the ill-treatment of slaves on her hus- 
band's plantation. To this day there is acrimonious debate 
as to just how far such cases should be accepted as typical. 
Southerners have always insisted that they were nothing 
but abominable exceptions and that the general rule was one 
of humanity.^ 

476. The Temper of the Time. The dispute over slavery 
was destined to go to fearful lengths. It engendered bitter 
feeling, warped men's minds, and made uncharitableness the 
order of the day, north and south. Unfortunately, we must 
hear much more of it before we are done. At this moment we 
need consider only its effect on the absorbing matter of the 

' Dispassionate history tends to reject the picture of slavery current among 
the abolitionists. Woodrow Wilson sums up the matter thus: "Of the con- 
ditions of slave life it is exceedingly difficult to speak in general terms with con- 
fidence or with accuracy. . . . Domestic slaves were almost uniformly dealt 
with indulgently and even affectionately by their masters. x\mong those 
masters who had the sensibility and breeding of gentlemen, the dignity and 
responsibility of ownership were apt to produce a noble and gracious type of 
manhood, and relations really patriarchal. 'On principle in habit, and even 
on grounds of self-interest, the greater part of the slave owners were humane 
in their treatment of their slaves . . .' is the judgment of an eminently 
competent Northern observer who visited the South in 1844." "Division and 
Reunion," 126. 



334 AMERICAN HISTORY 

relation of the states in the Union. Inevitably it increased 
the Southern opposition to the rule of the majority in Congress. 
It roused the pride of the Southerners and led them to demand 
to be " let alone." " Slavery is our problem," they said, in 
substance ; "we will solve it our own way." 

Just as abohtion indirectly strengthened the national idea, 
so the slavery dispute indirectly strengthened the belief in 
states' rights. The Southerners fell back upon the idea that 
each state was sovereign and inviolable and subject to no 
dictation from without. 

477. The Dual Revolution. There had been a time when 
this idea was not peculiar to the South. At that time, also, 
it did not overshadow all other political ideas anywhere, 
even in the South. By degrees, circumstances had expelled 
it, or almost expelled it, from the North. Attendant circum- 
stances had acted oppositely in the South ; as a result, this one 
idea had come to dominate Southern politics. Thus we see 
what is meant by the term " the dual revolution." All the 
political hfe of the North had undergone a revolution which 
had ended in making the North, as a whole, loyal to the na- 
tional idea. The South had passed through a corresponding 
revolution that had crushed out whatever impulse it may 
once have had to abandon the faith in states' rights. 

478. The Southern Individualism. But even when all 
these tilings have been taken into account, the very heart of 
the Southern feeling has not yet been revealed. Back of all 
these lay a basal idea which circumstances might have under- 
mined but which they intensified instead. This was what 
we know as the philosophy of individuahsm : that is, a faith 
that the chief end of social institutions is to produce a large 
number of highly distinctive individuals and that government 
instead of repressing the distinctiveness of each individual 
should encourage it.^ Therefore, argues the political individ- 

1 It must be understood that in this chapter we are contemplating all the 
complex phenomena of that difficult age from a positive point of view. There- 
fore, neither in the presentation of the national inspiration (section 470) nor 



THE DUAL REVOLUTION 335 

ualist, government should exert no more authority than is 
strictly necessary and leave to individual enterprise every- 
thing that it is capable of accompHshing. Opposed to this 
view are the so-called collective theories of society which pay 
more regard to the community as a whole than to the develop- 
ment of its individual members. The individualist judges 
a society by the number of commanding personalities which 
it produces ; . the collectivist, by the average happiness of its 
citizens. The nineteenth century was characterized by its 
leanings toward collectivism in pohtics. In this respect it was 
a departure from the old traditions of Anglo-Saxon civiHza- 
tion, which during many generations had persistently refused 
to enlarge the powers of the government at the expense of the 
individual. 

The South, from 1830 to i860, formed the last citadel of 
unimpaired Anglo-Saxon individuaHsm. We may sum up 
the causes of this under three heads : (i) that intense conscious- 
ness of locality which, as we have seen (section 470), dominated 
Southern thought ; (2) the aristocratic structure of Southern 
society ; (3) the comparative isolation of the great planta- 
tions, each a little world in itself, because of which the necessity 
for the regulation of affairs by society as a whole was reduced 
to a minimum. In a social order such as this, men were 
bound to develop a keen sense of the need of their community 
for commanding personalities and to look with distrust upon 
that democratic collectivism which, as they believed, — 
whether rightly or wrongly does not here concern us, — was 
threatening to put an end to the production of exceptional 
people and to increase enormously the number of commonplace 
people. In other words, they beHeved that majority rule, 

with regard to this still more elusive matter of individualistic theory do we 
include in the picture all the minor elements that lay in the shadow of the dom- 
inants. The national idea carried with it a great accompaniment of individual- 
ism ; the Southern tendencies included things that have seemed to some students 
contradictory to the main drift. See Dodd, "Statesmen of the Old South"; 
Phillips in "American Historical Review," XI, 798; Hunt, "Calhoun," chap. 
ix; Woodrow Wilson in "Cambridge Modern History," VII, chap. xiii. 



33^ 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



whether in the Union or in a state, was destined, if riot checked, 
to revolutionize society by " levehng it down " to a compara- 
tively low standard of hving and by depriving it of original 
characters. Furthermore, they ardently believed that free 
government could not be preserved except on an individualistic 
basis. For a majority of states to destroy the prosperity of 
a minority, for a majority of citizens to ride rough-shod over 
the interests of the remainder, appeared to the Southern mind 
the same thing as the ancient tyranny of the kings. The 

final significance of the 
Southern attitude in the 
dual revolution was its 
insistence on the polit- 
ical theory of individu- 
alism. Says Woodrow 
Wilson: "There were 
many men in the South 
who, while they had no 
love for slavery, had a 
deep love, a deep in- 
herited veneration even 
for the Union, but with whom the passion for the ancient 
principles, the ancient sentiment, of self-government was 
greater even than these, and covered every subject of 
domestic policy." 

479. States' Rights Literature. It remains but to ask how 
this faith of the South was given literary form. Who were the 
Southern writers corresponding to that group of literary 
nationalists in the North? The most distinguished Southern 
writer, Edgar Allan Poe, appeared about 1830 and belongs, 
therefore, to this period of vehement change. But it is doubt- 
ful whether Poe had any effect upon the life of his section 
except in purely Uterary ways. He was a great, soUtary 
artist, whose world was within himself. The men who 
phrased the Southern poKtical faith were chiefly the orators. 
Of these there is a long and illustrious roll call, headed by 




THE HOUSE OF WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS 
IN SOUTH CAROLINA 




JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 
From a daguerreotype 



THE DUAL REVOLUTION 337 

Calhoun. The novelist, William Gilmore Simms, wove the 
life of the South into a series of tales to form a sort of prose 
chronicle of its bravery. Somewhat later came another 
novehst, John Esten Cooke, of Virginia. J. M. Legare and 
after him the better known Paul H. Hayne hold their places 
among the poets. But the Southern author who felt the call 
of his own land and expressed it most distinctively was Henry 
Timrod. His poems are a striking contrast to those of the 
nationalist singers. They have but two main themes — his 
own soil, South Carolina, and a passion to resist invasion. On 
his gentler side, in his love of the strange, mj^sterious landscape 
of the low-lying Carolinas with their rich flora, Timrod expresses 
in poetry the concentration of Southern life within its own 
horizon. In his passionate phase, there rang from him the 
typical Southern devotion to the state. Some lines of his, 
written after this thirty-year period had ended but none the 
less appropriate to it, may serve to close this chapter, in sugges- 
tive contrast to the lines already quoted from Longfellow : 

The despot treads thy sacred sands, 
Thy pines give shelter to his bands, 
Thy sons stand by with idle hands, 

Carolina ! 
He breathes at ease thy airs of balm, 
He scorns the lances of thy palm ; 
Oh ! who shall break thy craven calm, 

Carolina ! 
Thy ancient fame is growing dim, 
A spot is on thy garment's rim ; 
Give to the winds thy battle hymn, 

Carolina ! 



Selections from the Sources. U. S. Census Bureau, A Century of Popu- 
lation Growth; Johnson, Readings, 353-366; Hart, Contemporaries, 
II, 151-157, 163-184 ; Macdonald, Documents, Nos. 63, 69 ; De Tocque- 
viLLE, Democracy in America; Trollope, Domestic Manners of the 
Americans ; Olmsted, Seaboard Slave States; Smedes, Southern Planter, 
17-180; QuiNCY, Figures of the Past; Niks' Weekly Register 
(1820-1S49) ; Kendall, Autobiography. 



338 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Secondary Accounts. Coman, Industrial History, 207-227, 232-243; 
RjiODES, United States, I, 40-75, 303-383; Schouler, United States, 
III, 507-531; IV, 1-31, 199-229; McMaster, United States, IV, 522- 
569; V, S2-108, 184-226, 284-372; Adams, United States, IX, 175-187, 
198-242 ; Wilson, Division and Reunion, sees. 53-57, 60-66 ; Hart, 
Slavery and Abolition; Sparks, Expansion, 290-296,376-418; Larned, 
History for Ready Reference, IV, 2927-2935, 2943; V, 3369, 3373, 3375; 
Page, Old South, 57-92, 143-185 ; Dodd, Statesmen of the Old South; 
Brown, Lower South, 16-49; Smith, Liberty and Free-soil Parties, 
1-47; Wendell, Literary History of America, 157-345; Morse, J. Q. 
Adams, 242-308; Hunt, /. C. Cclhoun, 121-132, 191-197; Roosevelt, 
T. H. Benton, 140-151 ; Hart, S. P. Chase, 28-91 ; Schurz, Henry Clay, 
II, 71-87, 153-171; Garrison, Life of Garrison; Birnky, James G. 
Birney; Sanborn, R. W. Emerson; Burton, /. G. Whitticr; T: 
Life of Simms; Jervey, Hayne. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. Development of Railroads. 2. 
Settlement of the Northwest. 3. German Influence in Am 
4. Emancipation Movement in the South. 5. Garrison. 6. 
Quincy Adams in Congress. 7. European Views of Slavery. 8. o 

Tyranny of the Majority in America. 9. Sources of the Sou T . 

BeUef in Individualism. 10. Nationalist Literature. ^ ft 



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CHAPTER XXIII 

THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SECTIONS 

I. ANDREW JACKSON 

480. New Political Parties. The conditions sketched 
in the preceding chapter developed gradually during the course 
of a generation. No other single generation saw such great 
changes in American life as were seen by that one whose 
members were young men in 1830 and old men in i860. 
Political events reflected these changes. The two factions of 
the old Republican (Democratic) party developed into distinct 
new parties with principles that could not be reconciled. 

481. Jackson Supreme. At the opening of this period, 
American politics were overshadowed by one masterful figure — 
Jackson. Perhaps no other President has had such unlimited 
power as he had. Refusing to consider himself a mere party 
leader, he insisted that he was the " standard bearer " of the 
whole people, and the peculiar circumstances of the election 
of 1832 confirmed him in that belief. We must now consider 
features of that election which were omitted from Chapter XXI 
because they did not bear upon nullification. 

Jackson has rightly been called the first real democrat among 
our presidents. We have seen that the President was intended 
at first to be practically an elective king (section 367) , but that 
soon the office was transformed into a party leadership. How- 
ever, this party leader was bound by rigid laws. He was part 
of a system and had to keep his place in a system. Until 
Jackson appeared, every holder of the office was a trained 
statesman who had served a long apprenticeship in politics 
before being elevated to the presidency. In spite of their 
differences, all the early Presidents agreed in their respect 

339 



340 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



for the general system of the government and were at one in 
their carefulness not to overstep the authority of their ofi&ce. 
A striking instance was Jefferson's fear that he might have 
overstepped his authority in annexing Louisiana (section 394), 
even though the interests of the country plainly required him 
to do so. 

Jackson, in sharp contrast, had grown up on the frontier 
where there was little if any realization of the precise nature 
of the governmental system. He, and the world from which 
he issued, had but one unfaiHng test of a law : did it help 
the country? While the conservative Easterners asked with 
regard to a measure. Is it constitutional? the frontiersmen 
asked. Will it accomplish the end desired? Their impulse 
was to deal with each issue as it arose, settle it as seemed best 
for the moment, and not to trouble themselves if the lawyer or 
the student pronounced them inconsistent. Jackson was the 
very embodiment of the frontier. From the point of view of 
to-day, it cannot be denied that much of his policy seems 
to many people indefensible. However, once we have grasped 
the dominant principle governing his actions, there is nothing 
in his course that is problematical. He lacked entirely the 
lawyer's dread of setting a precedent, and sincerely believed 
that since the will of the people was the source of law, a 
clear expression of the people's will should supersede all other 
expressions of authority.^ 

The election of 1832 brought out this attitude in a remark- 
able way. During Jackson's first term, the state of Georgia 
had attempted to remove the Cherokee Indians from lands 
held by them within the state. The case was taken to the 
Supreme Court of the United States which decided that the 

'Jackson is generally accused of introducing the "spoils system," and he 
certainly permitted the application of it to national ix)litics. 

The real originators of this system were certain shrewd New York politicians 
known as the "Albany regency." One of the ablest of them was Martin Van 
Buren. Jackson apiK)intcd him secretary of state. He had great influence 
over the President and directed much of his policy. In 1832 V'an Buren 
became vice president. 



THE CONSOLIDx\TION OF THE SECTIONS 341 



Indians had a right to remain on their lands. Jackson, 
however, considered the decision improper and when Georgia 
defied the court he refused to enforce the court's decision. In 
the election of 1832, he boldly submitted the question to the 
American people.^ If they reelected him they must indorse 
his position that it was not the part of wisdom to compel a 
state to retain an Indian population against its will. His 
sweeping victory was con- 
strued by Jackson as an 
authorization from the 
people to support Georgia 
and oppose the Supreme 
Court. Consequently, 
Georgia was given her way 
and the Creeks were even- 
tually removed to the In- 
dian Territory.^ 

482. Jackson's Signifi- 
cance. The cause of Jack- 
son's immense popularity 
in 1832 was threefold. 
First of all, he was a great 
man. Many people have 
thought of him as merely 
rough and rude. But this will not explain him. Though 
narrow and without education, he had a force of character 
that amounted to genius. He impressed the world as a man 
of iron. His tremendous energy and his inflexible deter- 
mination drew to him a great host of admirers. He kept 



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INDIAN CESSIONS IN GEORGIA 



^ It is impossible not to see in this the foreshadowing of those political 
theories of our day that include the "referendum" and the "recall." 

^ In 1834 Congress organized the Indian Territory. Practically all the 
Indians east of the Mississippi were gradually removed thither. This policy 
caused two Indian wars. In 1832 occurred the Black Hawk War in the North- 
west, quickly terminated to the disadvantage of the Indians. A part of the 
Seminoles, however, made their way back to Florida and caused the Second 
Seminole War. Florida was not cleared of Indians until 1842. 



342 AMERICAN HISTORY 

their admiration by the faithfulness of his friendships and the 
firmness with which he followed up all his undertakings.^ 

But there was far more behind Jackson than mere popular 
admiration of a strong man. In 1832, in spite of the trouble 
in South CaroHna, every other Southern state except Maryland 
supported Jackson. To the South, generally, he seemed the 
deliverer from Clay and Adams and out-and-out nationalism. 

There was still a third cause of his strength, — the greatest 
of all. Forty years had now passed since the formation of the 
Union and in that period a great social change had taken place. 
The South, to be sure, had not yet been affected ; it was not 
destined to be affected for thirty years to come. " But in the 
North, East, and most of the West, the conditions of 1789 
had passed away. The Northern aristocratic class, to which 
political leadership was conceded in 1789 (section 349), had 
largely gone to the wall. The growth of the manufacturing 
population and the formation of vigorous new communities 
had put political power in the hands of the mass of the people. 
They were just beginning to use it. The day had gone by 
when great families could dominate Northern politics, when 
Livingstons and Clintons divided New York between them 
(section 349). All over the North the plain people were 
clamoring to have a government that was not in the interests 
of the aristocrats. The Adams and Clay party was thought 
to lean toward aristocracy. Therefore, all the plain people 
everywhere hurrahed for Jackson, the man of the people, 
the Westerner, who knew not "aristocracy and would not 
surrender to it. He was nicknamed " Old Hickory " and 
proclaimed the " standard bearer of the people." ^ 

' During his first term he secured to his countrymen a concession from Eng- 
land which they had long desired. By promising that Congress should repeal 
all restrictions upon the trade of England, he induced the British ministry to 
open to Americans the ports of the West Indies. Later, in 1836, he forced a 
settlement by France of claims growing out of French captures of American 
merchantmen thirty years before. 

- Enemies of Jackson have charged him with being a despx)t in the guise of a 
demagogue. See the famous chapter in Von Hoist, "United States," Vol. 
II, entitled "The Reign of Andrew Jackson." 




© D,:!r,u! Pur.'i>,'!ii,x' Co., lyy courtesy of Co 

ANDREW JACKSON 



>r.j« Gallery of Art 



THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SECTIONS 343 

Supported by the South for sectional reasons, supported by 
the masses of the North for social reasons, Jackson combined 
in his following men whose motives for supporting him were 
widely different. It remained to be seen whether his following 
would harden into a party. Could it be held together when 
his masterful personality was no longer at the head of it? 
That was a great question during his second term, and we 
shall see, presently, what came of it. 

483. The Bank Question. Besides the issue of the Georgia 
Indians (section 481), there was another which also had been 
submitted to the people in the election of 1832, namely, 
should the President deal as he thought best with the Bank 
of the United States? ^ The enemies of Jackson had brought 
forward during his first term a bill to recharter the bank. 
Jackson who considered the bank a monopohstic and aristo- 
cratic institution vetoed the bill. Clay and his followers then 
took up the bank charter as a leading issue in the presidential 
campaign. 

It turned out that the popular sentiment was with Jackson 
and against the bank." This came out so plainly in the course 

^ This was not the bank organized by Hamilton (section 356), the charter 
of which expired in i8i i. The second Bank of the United States was chartered 
in 1816 (see Macdonald, "Documents," No. 33; Dewey, " Financial History," 
145-157). The government held one fifth of its stock, and appointed five of 
its twenty-five directors. 

^ There seem to have been two chief causes of hostility to the bank. First, 
for a variety of reasons (see Wilson, "Division and Reunion," sec. 37, and Dewey, 
"Financial History of the United States," sees. 68-72, 86), many people 
were interested in state banks most of which were more or less unsound ; the 
competition of the powerful and wealthy Bank of the United States was a con- 
stant menace to these weaker banks and was resented by all their supporters. 
Second, it was known that bank charters were generally granted through politi- 
cal favoritism. The bankers were expected to aid with convenient loans the 
politicians who got them their charters, and to find money for use in politics. 
People not directly interested in banking were ready to believe that the Bank of 
the United States did the same thing, on a great scale, in the interests of the 
party of Clay. 

Furthermore, a considerable portion of the stock of the bank was owned in 
Europe, and almost all the rest except the government's portion (one fifth) 
was in the hands of a few Americans, "chiefly of the richest class" (Dewey, 



344 AMERICAN HISTORY 

of the campaign that Jackson felt he had been authorized 
by the people to withdraw from the bank the support of the 
government. Although under its old charter the bank had 
still several years to live, the government might destroy its 
official character by removing the deposits of the United 
States, of which hitherto the bank had been the repository. 
Jackson resolved to remove the deposits.^ In 1833 they were 
withdrawn and the bank ceased to have a national character, 

484. The Specie Circular. Having withdrawn the govern- 
ment moneys from the Bank of the United States, Jackson 
caused them to be deposited in various private banks. The 
charge was made that in selecting these banks he showed 
favoritism and therefore they were nicknamed '' pet banks." 

It was a busy moment all over America and much exporting, 
especially of cotton, had caused a rise of prices. Speculation 
was rife. Everybody seemed to be getting rich. By putting 
large sums of money into the hands of the " pet banks," 
Jackson unintentionally did the country an injury, for the 
banks used this money without due regard to its safety. 
Seeing how prosperous the pet bankers were, other people 
hastened into the banking business. Presently there was a 
mania for banking all over the United States. Bank notes were 
issued so recklessly that people began to be afraid to take 

"Financial History," 208). The mass of the Jacksonian democracy felt that 
the bank was an aristocratic institution, more or less controlled by foreigners. 
For a significant case of state opposition to the bank, see Bogart, " Taxation of 
the Second Bank of the United States by Ohio," Atncrican Historical Review, 
XVII, 312-331. 

* There was a legal question as to the authority of the President to remove 
the deposits without the sanction of Congress, and the secretary of the treasury, 
Louis McLane, held that the removal was illegal. Jackson forced him to resign. 
A new secretary, William J. Duane, took the same ground and was removed by 
the President. At last, Roger B. Taney carried out Jackson's plan. See Dewey, 
"Financial History," 203-209. 

In 1834, though there was a majority of Jackson men in the House, the Senate 
was against him and Clay induced it to pass a resolution censuring Jackson for 
removing the deposits. In the next Congress, however, the President com- 
manded a majority in both Houses, and the resolution of censure was expunged 
from the Senate journal. 



THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SECTIONS 345 

them, and at last Jackson himself became alarmed. Suddenly, 
against the advice of his cabinet, he issued (July 11, 1836) 
what is known as the Specie Circular.^ Many of the Western 
banks had been speculating in public lands, which hitherto 
they had paid for with the unreliable bank notes that had now 
fallen under suspicion. The Specie Circular, without any 
warning, put a stop to the use of bank notes in that connection. 
Thereafter, only gold or silver would be accepted by the 
government for public lands. As we shall soon see the effect 
of the Specie Circular was far-reaching. But that effect did 
not instantly appear. For the moment it was obscured in 
the public mind by the purely party questions of the election 
of 1836. 

II. THE NEW PARTIES 

485. Van Buren. Jackson had picked out as his successor 
the vice president, Martin Van Buren, and the influence of 
the President was sufficient to secure for Van Buren the 
Democratic nomination. In Jackson's mind, probably that 
was enough. But Van Buren was a far more adroit poHtician 
than was his great leader. He, better than the President, 
understood the make-up of the Jacksonian party. He under- 
stood the difficult problem facing any man who wished to be 
Jackson's successor. It must not be forgotten that South- 
erners, generally, supported Jackson for a sectional reason, 
while his Northern supporters stood by him for a social 
reason. Could any man but Jackson hold these two groups 
of supporters together? 

Van Buren's pohtical principles commended him to the 
South. He and a number of Northern politicians were con- 
vinced that governmental interference in business had brought 
nothing but harm to the country. To check the tendency 

1 See Macdonald, "Documents," 327-329; Benton, "Thirty Years' View," 
I, 676-678, 694-707; Dewey, "Financial History," 224-233; Sumner, "Jack- 
son," 335-336; Von Hoist, "United States," II, 184-194; Bassett, "Andrew 
Jackson," II, chap. xxix. 



346 AMERICAN HISTORY 

in that direction they had adopted strict constructionist views. 
Thus Van Buren appealed to the states' rights sentiment in 
the South. He was an enemy of the abohtionists and on 
that issue he appealed to all those numerous Southerners who, 
whatever their personal views on slavery, joined in demanding 
that the South be left to deal with slavery in its own time and 
its own way. As an enemy of the abolitionists and an anti- 
tarilT man, Van Buren carried the South. As the chosen 
successor of Jackson, he held the Jackson following in the 
North.^ Apparently he had solved the problem of knitting 
together the diverse elements in the Jackson party. 

486. Distribution of the Surplus. But there were troubles 
ahead which Van Buren could not prevent. We have seen 
that Jackson had issued the Specie Circular in order to save 
the government at the expense of the banks (section 484). 
After Van Buren was elected, but before he was inaugurated, 
another disastrous event took place. Shortly before this time, 
the debt of the United States had been paid off ; there was a 
surplus in the treasury, and Congress, in 1836, had passed an 
act for distributing it among the states.^ In January, 1837, 
those banks having government deposits were called upon to 
begin paying out the surplus to the states. Nearly $10,000,- 
000 were demanded by the government. The banks already 
embarrassed by the effect of the Specie Circular met this 
demand with great difficulty. They were forced to call in 
their loans, thus increasing the tension under which all the 
business of the country was laboring. At the same time the 
price of cotton (section 484) unexpectedly fell. The whole 
business world was thrown into confusion and alarm, the blame 
for which was placed upon the government. 

' There were several other nominations. The National Republicans, known 
hereafter as Whigs, were divided among themselves and made a poor showing. 
Van Buren received one hundred and seventy electoral votes against one hun- 
dred and twenty-four. 

2 The surplus amounted to $42,468,000. All but $5,000,000 was to be 
distributed in quarterly payments. Three installments, amounting to some 
$28,000,000, were paid. 



THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SECTIONS 347 

487. Panic of 1837. At this critical moment Van Buren 
became President Some two months later (May, 1837), all 
the banks of the United States suspended specie payments. 
Business collapsed. This was what is known as " the panic 
of 1837." Says Professor Hart, " Nine tenths of the men in 
business in 1836 were bankrupt in 1837." 

488. The President's Courage. Van Buren is ordinarily 
thought of as merely an adroit schemer. But his conduct 
in the face of the panic deserves to. be called courageous. 
The suffering throughout the country was great. Flour — to 
take but one detail — which, in 1834, had cost $5 a barrel, 
in 1837 cost $11. Everything else went up in price pro- 
portionately, and Clay and the Whigs did not fail to make 
much of the fact. They demanded of the President what he 
was going to do to save the country from distress. They 
revived all the old Hamiltonian arguments for using the gov- 
ernment to strengthen business — those arguments which the 
states' rights men. North and South, had rejected. 

At such a moment, in the face of such a demand, it took con- 
siderable courage for Van Buren to stick to his principles. 
But he did so.^ To the demand to know what he would do, he 
answered in substance that he would do nothing, and in spite 
of popular clamor against him, he did not give way. Though 
he consented to call a special session of Congress, his message 
to it stated with perfect frankness his belief that business must 
be left to take care of itself and that any interference by the 
government would do more harm than good.- However, he 
consented to put a stop to the distribution of the surplus, and 
to allow payments to the government to be made in treasury 

^ See "Messages and Papers," III, 324-346; Benton, "Thirty Years View," 
II, 9-67; Schurz, "Clay," II, 1 13-127; Shephard, "Van Buren," 242-277; 
Von Hoist, "United States," II, 173-216. 

2 He also recommended the " independent treasury plan," by which the govern- 
ment moneys are kept at this day. By this plan, instead of depositing with 
banks, the government has its own system of vaults, located in the large cities 
throughout the country. See Dewey, "Financial History," 235-237, 252-255; 
Phillips, "Methods of Keeping the Public Money," 103-111. 



348 AMERICAN HISTORY 

notes. The United States again began borrowing money and 
has remained in debt ever since. 

489. The Democratic Party. Van Buren's real achieve- 
ment consisted in defining the position of the Democratic 
party. By refusing to use the power of the government to 
force an adjustment of business, Van Buren lost the support 
of great numbers of voters, but thereby he completed 
his work of soHdifying a new party with definite principles. 
These were clearly formulated by the Democratic national 
convention of 1840. The chief ones were: (i) the central 
government should refrain from interference with the sov- 
ereign rights of the states ; (2) it should not interfere with 
business; (3) it should not make internal improvements; 
(4) it should not establish a tarifif ; (5) questions of slavery 
should be left to the various states to deal with as they saw 
fit. 

490. The Whig Party. ^ The Whigs in 1840 made no 
official declaration of principles, but the majority of them, 
it seems fairly certain, were nationalists; they believed 
in using the government to assist business ; they were friendly, 
to say the least, to all such measures as the tariff. As 
to slavery, they would not commit themselves either way. 

By evading the issue of slavery, they both lost and gained. 
They lost many Northern votes. Abolitionists held a con- 
vention, organized the " Liberty party," and nominated for 
President, James G. Birney.- However, by keeping silence 
about slavery the Whigs gained more than they lost. Though 
the South was changing fast and was destined soon to become 
almost wholly a states' rights region, it had not become so in 
1840. There was still a minority of Southerners who be- 
lieved in " strong " government, who wanted internal im- 
provements by the central government, and were not afraid 
of a tariff. These men were drawn into the Whig party. 

' See section 485, note. The name appears to have been first used in the 
winter of 1S34-1S35. 

* See page 330. lie was now living iu New York. 



THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SECTIONS 349 



The Eagle of Libertv, 
Stranpllng the Serpent 
of COBRVFTIOA'. 



491. The Whig Candidate. In selecting a candidate, 
the Whigs had three things to consider. They must hold 
fast the minority in the South ; they must break the hold of 
the Jackson party on the plain people in the North ; they 
must take advantage of the reaction against Van Buren. 
They chose a Virginian Uving in the West, William Henry 
Harrison, of Ohio. He was a brave soldier of the War of 181 2 ; 
he was friendly to the South ; and his life as a pioneer enabled 
his partisans to apply to him the very sort of praise that was 
formerly given to Jackson. He was called 
the " log cabin " candidate, and loudly 
proclaimed the true champion of the plain 
people. Van Buren was denounced as a 
selfish schemer who lived in luxury and 
cared only for his own advancement. 
Though the condition of the country was 
improving, prosperity had not yet returned, 
and all those who had suffered in the panic 
took their revenge by voting against the 
man who had refused to show them a way 
out of their troubles. The campaign was 
one of the most heated and bitter in our 
history. It ended in what we call to-day a " landslide." 
The Whigs elected Harrison by a great majority and ob- 
tained control of both Houses of Congress. 

492. The Whig Party Divided. But now occurred a swift 
succession of unforeseen events, beginning with the sudden 
death of President Harrison, a month after his inauguration. 
He was succeeded by the vice president, John Tyler, of Vir- 
ginia. Tyler had been put on the ticket to secure the Southern 
vote, and though an an ti- Jackson man, he was not in sympathy 
with many influential Whigs. This fact now became apparent. 
The Whigs in Congress, led by Clay, had expected to re- 
establish the Bank of the United States, pass a new tariff act, 
and spend money on internal improvements. To their amaze- 
ment, Tyler vetoed a number of Whig measures which had 




Xru£ American Ticket. 

Far Priiidtnt 

WM. HENRY HARRISON. 



3 so 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



^'"'— 'S;;^ 




passed Congress. A furious quarrel between him and the Whig 
leaders was the immediate result. Before he had been a year 
in oflice, his cabinet resigned/ and the Whig leaders made a 
formal announcement that " all pohtical connection between 
them and John Tyler was at an end from that day forth." 
During the rest of his term he pursued an independent course, 

acting with the Democrats as 
often as with the Whigs. 

493. Tariff of 1842. In 
spite of their breach with 
Tyler, the Whigs tried to bring 
the country back to a high 
tariff. It will be remembered 
that the compromise tariff of 
1833 (section 459) provided 
for a gradual reduction of 
duties until 1842. Two Whig 
bills providing for a high tar- 
iff after 1842 were vetoed by 
the President. A third bill, 
however, he signed. It made 
the duties about what they were 
in 1832, thus upsetting the 
compromise which had quieted 
NORTHEAST BOUNDARY the nulUfiers (section 459). 

494. A New Issue. Here was ground for a fresh quarrel 
between Democrats and Whigs, but it was sidetracked by 
another question which became the chief issue in the campaign 
of 1844. To bring this question to a head, Calhoun, chief 

' There was one exception. Webster was secretary of state and busily 
engaged with the British government settling the boundary of Maine. It had 
been in dispute since 1 783, as the treaty describing the boundary was ambiguous. 
A considerable tract of country was claimed both by the United States 
and England. Their dispute had engendered much ill-feeling and had even 
threatened to produce war. Webster continued in ofSce until the Webster- 
Ashburton treaty with England was signed. It made the boundary' definite 
and divided the disputed territory about in half. Webster then resigned. 



THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SECTIONS 351 

opponent of Clay and all the Whigs, entered Tyler's cabinet 
as secretary of state. What this question was we must now 
proceed to consider. 

III. THE TEXAN COMPLICATIONS 

495. Beginnings of Texas. By the treaty with Spain, 
in 1819, the Sabine River was accepted as the boundary 
between the United States and Mexico. Across the Sabine 
lay the Mexican state of Texas. During the next few years 
a considerable number of Americans crossed the Sabine and 
settled in Texas. A large extent of land was granted by the 
Spanish government to Moses Austin, one of the chief men 
in the early movement to Texas. 

When Mexico revolted against Spain in 182 1 and became an 
independent republic, the Americans in Texas quietly accepted 
the change of government. Emigration from the United 
States continued. Under what has been known as *' the 
Constitution of 1824," Mexico enjoyed a federal system and 
the Americans in the state of Texas were well content. 

496, Usurpation of Santa Anna. The Mexicans, however, 
were not ripe for republican government and the successive 
presidents generally made themselves dictators. In 1835 a 
dictator of unusual abihty, Antonio de Santa Anna, had suc- 
ceeded in crushing the local governments of the various Mexi- 
can states with the one exception of Texas. In Texas his 
enemies took refuge. Being resolved to oppose the dictator, 
theTexans called a convention to determine their course, which, 
they knew, might end in war. At this critical moment the 
Mexican authorities made a rash attempt to seize a cannon 
belonging to the Texan settlement of Gonzales. A force 
of volunteers, hastily brought together, withstood the Mexicans 
and after a sharp fight forced them to retreat,^ October 2, 1835. 

^ The fight of Gonzales might be called the Lexington of Texan independence. 
A strange resemblance is to be found in the accidental similarities of the two 
incidents. In each case an attempt to seize the arms of a discontented region 
caused a battle with militia and precipitated a war. 



352 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



497. Civil War in Texas. Unofficial war began at once 
between the Mexican soldiers and bands of Texans variously 
organized. During the next three months several gallant 
actions were fought, among which the siege of Bejar, where was 
a Mexican garrison, was conspicuous. In December the 
Texans took the town by storm, lighting their way from house 
to house with most desperate courage and determination. 

Meanwhile, representatives of the Texan people had assem- 
bled, and on November 7, 1835, made a formal declaration 



r 









THE CONVENT AND GROUNDS OF THE ALAMO 



to the effect that Texas had taken up arms " in defense of the 
repubHcan principles of the federal constitution of IVIexico 
of eighteen and twenty-four," and was ready to join with any 
other states that would resist the dictator. Samuel Houston 
was named major-general of the forces of Texas. Henry 
Smith was chosen governor. 

498. The Siege of the Alamo. Santa Anna was not slow 
in accepting the challenge of the Texans. Collecting an 
army he marched upon San Antonio where, in a fortified 
convent called the Alamo, was a little garrison about a hundred 
and fifty strong commanded by William Barret Travis. The 
situation was described by Travis in a public letter dated 
February 24, 1836. He addressed it " to the People of 
Texas and all Americans in the World." 



THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SECTIONS 353 

" Fellow citizens and compatriots — I am besieged by a thousand or 
more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna. . . . The enemy has de- 
manded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put 
to the sword, if the fort is taken. ... I call on you in the name of 
Liberty, of Patriotism, and everything dear to the American character, 
to come to our aid with all despatch. The enemy is receiving re- 
enforcements daily and wiU no doubt increase to three or four thousand 
in four or five days. If this call is neglected I am determined to sustain 
myself as long as possible and die like a soldier who never forgets what 
is due to his own honor and that of his country, Victory or Death! " 

499. Declaration of Independence. It was while Santa 
Anna was besieging the Alamo, that a second Texan conven- 
tion was called together at the town of Washington. By 
this time all Texas was afire with hatred of the invaders. 
Letters from the United States urged the convention to declare 
for independence. It did so. On March 2, 1836, while the 
little force at the Alamo still held Santa Anna at bay, the 
Texan declaration of independence was issued. A constitu- 
tion was at once adopted, a provisional government was set up, 
with David G. Burnet as provisional president of the Republic 
of Texas, and a Mexican, Lorenzo de Zavala, vice president.^ 

500. The War of Independence. A few days afterward 
Houston was on the march to reheve the Alamo. At Gonzales 
he received word that Santa Anna had carried the place by 
storm (March 6, 1836), and that every man who defended its 
walls had died at his post. Thereupon, Houston burned 
Gonzales to prevent its affording shelter to Santa Anna, and 
retreated northward. He sent word to another Texan force, 
commanded by Captain J. W. Fannin, to join his own. But 
Fannin failed to do so. He was surrounded by the Mexicans, 
and forced to surrender. On March 27 the Mexicans mas- 
sacred their prisoners in cold blood.^ 

^ An election was held in the autumn of this same year. Houston became the 
first regular president of the republic. 

2 The Texan war of independence roused much sympathy in the United 
States. High-spirited young Americans had joined the Texan forces as volun- 
teers, and many of the prisoners massacred on March 27 were American citi- 



354 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



This cowardly action was quickly avenged. At San Jacinto 
Houston and his Texans attacked with irresistible fury the 
much larger army of Santa Anna and totally routed it (April 
21, 1836). Santa Anna himself was taken prisoner. He was 
released and allowed to return to Mexico only after signing' a 
treaty, in which he promised to cease hostilities and to use his 

influence in Mexico to secure 
a recognition of Texan inde- 
pendence. 

501. The Republic of Texas. 
This was the end of the war for 
independence. Santa Anna, 
however, repudiated the treaty 
he had been forced to sign, but 
he did not venture to renew 
hostilities, and in 1837 the 
United States recognized Texas 
as an independent repubhc. 
France did the same in 1839 ; 
England in 1843. 

Except for one thing, prob- 
ably Texas would have at once 
become a state in the American 
Union. The Texans themselves were almost unanimous in 
desiring annexation. They were opposed in this by certain 
Northerners who feared that Texas would increase too much 
the power of the South. Though the Texans were not vehe- 
ment for slavery, it existed there, and Texas, if admitted, 
would be a slave state. The influence of the enemies of slav- 
ery kept the question of annexation from coming to a head for 
several years. 

502. Texas and Europe. Meanwhile, both France and 
England began to take an interest in Texas. Neither of them 

zcns. This fact, together with the heroic defense of the Alamo, stirred the 
hearts of the whole ]ko])]v of the United States. The cry of the moment was 
"Remember the Akiinu ! " 




SAM HOUSTON, FIRST PRESmENT 
OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS 



THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SECTIONS 355 

appear to have relished the idea of its becoming part of the 
United States. In England, especially, where antislavery 
feeHng was strong, many people hoped that Texas would not 
be added to the American slave states. About 1843 various 
actions of the British ministry pointed to the conclusion 
that England was endeavoring to heal the breach between 
Texas and Mexico. On the one hand, Mexico was to acknowl- 
edge the independence of Texas ; on the other, Texas was to 
abolish slavery. Thus England hoped both to reduce the area 
of slavery and also to prevent another important addition 
to the United States. Once these purposes became apparent, 
the friends of annexation became active. Of these Presi- 
dent Tyler was the chief. Another great annexationist was 
Calhoun. Another was the secretary of state, Abel P. Upshur. 
During the winter of 1843-1844 Upshur labored to organize 
a party in Congress pledged to annexation. In this he was 
powerfully assisted by Calhoun. On his sudden death, in 
the spring of 1844, Calhoun seemed the one man to succeed 
him. We have seen that Tyler appointed Calhoun secretary 
of state (section 494). 

503. The Issues of 1844. Hitherto, Tyler had kept his 
plans comparatively secret. He disclosed them suddenly in 
April, 1844, when he sent to the Senate a treaty of annexation. 
The Whig Senate rejected it. However, in both the Whig 
and Democratic national conventions held the next month, 
the annexation treaty was the one great issue. ^ The Demo- 
crats formally endorsed it, and nominated a strong annexa- 
tionist, James K. Polk, of Tennessee. The Whigs were not so 
clear about their position, but their candidate, Clay, an- 
nounced himself opposed to annexation. 

The sentiment in the North against annexation was very 
strong. Sectional feeling was beginning to run high and there 
was vehement objection to adding this great slave state to the 
southern group. As a countercheck to this objection, the 

' The Liberty party had already held its convention. It renominated 
Birney. 



356 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



Democrats brought forward a scheme to increase also the 
area of the North. They made a political issue of the Oregon 
question. We must now see what that question was. 




'"EATy I, 



Colutiit 



IV. THE OREGON QUESTION 

504. The Russians in America. That portion of our 
country now occupied by the states of Washington, Oregon, 
and Idaho, was formerly known by the one name — Oregon. 
Its modern history may be traced back to the schemes of the 
Russian emperor, Peter the Great. Pursuing a line of policy 

mapped out by Peter, his suc- 
cessors attempted to extend 
their dominion from Asia 
across the Pacific to north- 
west America. The great 
navigator Bering explored the 
northwest coast, and as a 
result of his discoveries, Rus- 
sian companies were formed 
to develop the fur trade of the 
Northwest. Several Russian- 
THE OREGON- coLMRY American settlements were 

dotted along the Pacific coast, the most southern being made 
in what is now the upper part of California. 

In 1821 Russia served notice to the rest of the world that 
her empire included both sides of the Pacific north of the 
fifty-first degree, and that the intervening ocean was a " closed 
sea " from which all but Russians were excluded.^ John 
Quincy Adams, then secretary of state, protested. He would 
allow Russia the Pacific coast of America north of the fifty- 

1 Russian aggression in North America was part of the program of the 
Holy AlHance in 1823. The league of absolutist powers, — Russia, Austria, 
Prussia, France, Spain, — may be likened to a vast octopus advancing one 
gigantic tentacle across Siberia and down into America from the northwest, while 
another tentacle equally huge was to move to meet it from the east. See an 
excellent summary by Professor McMaster, in " Cambridge Modern History," 

vii, 364-371- 



THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SECTIONS 357 

fifth parallel, but he denied that she had any claim south of 
it. This was the beginning of diplomatic contentions, at the 
end of which Russia abandoned much and the United States 
conceded a little. In 1824 Russia accepted as the southern 
boundary of her American possessions the line of 54° 40' 
north latitude. 

505. Americans on the Pacific. This arrest of the Russian 
advance left open a splendid region extending along the 
Pacific coast from Alaska to Cahfornia. Who was entitled 
to this region now became an issue between the United States 
and Great Britain. We have seen that the Americans had a 
settlement at Astoria on the Columbia, which river had been 
discovered by an American sea captain as early as 1792. 
But the Hudson Bay Company had also pushed its way into 
the Northwest. It had control of what was later British 
Columbia and laid claim also to Oregon. The appeal of the 
Hudson Bay Company to the British government to support 
its claim brought on tortuous negotiations between the two 
countries. England demanded for her southern boundary 
the Columbia, while the United States claimed the whole 
region, even to the Russian line of 54° 40' . 

506. The Indian Mission. Meanwhile, Americans made 
their way overland to Oregon. In 1832 Captain Bonneville 
took a wagon train across the mountains. Nathaniel J. 
Wyeth followed with a party of settlers two years after. 
Some of these early visitors to the Oregon country — 
we know not which one — made a deep impression on certain 
Indians, by means of talk about a priceless " Book " in which 
was hidden the secret of all things. The silent, imaginative 
Indians decided to go in search of it, and four of them made the 
long journey to St. Louis. In the way that they conducted 
their mission, the singular character of the Indian appeared, 
for they spoke to no one of their purpose, but trusted their 
own eyes alone. For some time these silent warriors out of 
the unknown West walked about St. Louis looking for the 
" Book." Not being able to discover it, they gave up their 



358 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



search and went away, as silent as they came. They returned 
home to tell their people that the mission to St. Louis was 
in vain, that the " Book " was not there. 

507. Missionaries to the Indians. What the Indians were 
seeking was, of course, the Bible. Fortunately their purpose 
was discovered. It led speedily to the sending of missionaries 
to Oregon. Not only men but women prepared to go, 
although the best-informed explorers assured them that no 

women would reach Oregon alive. 
Mrs. H. H. Spaulding and Mrs. 
Marcus Whitman, wives of two 
missionaries, were the first of a 
number of daring women who risked 
the perils of the Oregon trail. Their 
courage is made plain when we 
reflect that George Catlin, chief 
authority at the time on Indian 
conditions, declared : " The hostile 
Indians that hover around the con- 
voy would fight against any odds to 
capture the women." On their way 
west they were met by Catlin, who 
begged them to turn back. He de- 
scribed a massacre in which the 
Indians killed all the men of a party in order to carry off 
into horrible captivity one woman. But nothing could turn 
these women from their purpose. Already Mr. Spaulding 
had tried to persuade his wife to turn back, but added that 
the decision " shall be left to you after we have prayed to- 
gether." Mrs. Spaulding, after a space of silence, had rephed, 
" I am ready not to be bound only but also to die on the 
Rocky Mountains for the name of the Lord Jesus." 

508. The American Occupation. In this heroic spirit the 
American occuiKition of Oregon began. A number of people 
joined the missionary caravan, which grew, at last, to some 
two hundred persons and six hundred animals. On July 4, 




AN INDIAN CHIEF 




THE OCCUPATION OF THE NORTHWEST 



THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SECTIONS 359 

1836, they entered South Pass, on the divide between the 
Mississippi Valley and the valley of the Columbia. At the 
western end of the pass, where they were definitely on " the 
Pacific slope," the company halted. They raised the Ameri- 
can flag, knelt beneath it, held a service of prayer, and then 
formally took possession of the country in the name of the 
United States. It is impossible, in this connection, not to 
think of another religious service when Columbus raised the 
flag of Spain on an island in the West Indies, three hundred 
and fifty years before. 

509. Whitman's Ride. As American interest in Oregon 
increased, the Hudson Bay Company became alarmed. It 
tried to induce the British ministry to take a firm stand and 
demand the withdrawal of the Americans from Oregon. In 
1842 Marcus Whitman got word of this and determined that 
something should be done by way of countercheck. He started 
east for the purpose of rousing the country to take action. 
This return journey is known in Oregon as " Whitman's 
Ride." It was a long, hard journey through the snows of a 
severe winter. 

Whitman's ride contributed greatly to stimulate the grow- 
ing interest in Oregon. The two religious organizations by 
which the early missionaries had been sent out, the American 
Board of Foreign Missions and the Methodist Board of 
Missions, continued their support, and when Whitman re- 
turned in 1843, he guided a party of immigrants numbering 
about a thousand.^ 

510. " Fifty-four Forty or Fight ! ". And yet England 
still claimed Oregon at least as far south as the Columbia River. 
Thus things stood when the Democrats determined to annex 
Texas and looked about them for some way of quieting the 

1 See Schouler, " United States," VI, 505-514; McMaster, "United States," 
VII, 286-302; Barrows, "Oregon," 160-254; Bancroft, "Oregon," I, chaps. 
V, xiii-xv; Bourne, "Legend of Marcus Whitman," American Historical 
Review, VI, 276-300; Coman, "Economic Beginnings of the Far West," 11, 
I 13-166. 



360 AMERICAN HISTORY 

objection that it would increase unduly the power of the 
South. Oregon served their purpose. They put forward 
the extreme American claim, demanding the whole Northwest 
as far as the Russian settlements. So, one of the cries of the 
campaign was, " Fifty-four forty or fight! " 



V. POLK AND HIS PLANS 

511. Clay's Blunder. A blunder of the Whig candidate 
helped the Democrats to win. Clay had a talent for devising 
compromises and more than once this talent delivered his 
country from political discord, but in 1844 it proved the ruin 
of his own career. Thinking he saw a chance to compromise 
on the annexation question, he wrote a letter implying that 
he might favor annexation at some time in the future. This 
position, he hoped, would win him votes in the South. But 
it failed to do so and instead lost him the antislavery vote, 
which was especially strong in New York. Many Whigs, 
who would otherwise have supported Clay, now refused to do 
so, and cast their ballots for Birney. As a consequence, New 
York was carried by Polk and that one state determined 
the election. Clay had thrown away his last chance to be 
President of the United States. 

512. Annexation of Texas. A number of senators looked 
upon the election as a command from their constituents to 
admit Texas. Accordingly, they voted for a joint resolution 
in favor of annexation. The resolution passed both Houses 
of Congress and was signed by Tyler (March i, 1845). 

513. The Breach with Mexico. Tyler thus bequeathed 
to his successor a quarrel with Mexico. It was opened only 
two days after the inauguration of Polk by a formal protest 
from the Mexican minister against the annexation of Texas. 
The new President replied that Texas was an independent 
power and if it wished to enter the American Union, no other 
power had the right to interfere. Thereupon, the Mexican 
government broke off diplomatic relations with the United 



THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SECTIONS 361 

States. At the same time Texas was warned that if she 
entered the Union, Mexico would declare war. The Texan 
reply to this threat was made through a convention which 
voted, July 4, 1845, to accept the terms of annexation 
proposed by the United 
States.^ 

Though American troops 
were at once sent into 
Texas to defend the new 
state should Mexico invade 
it, Polk did not at that 
time desire war. He now 
had in hand three distinct 
undertakings : (i) with the 
annexation of Texas, the 
United States assumed the 
claim of Texas to certain 
territory which Mexico ve- 
hemently claimed as her 
own ; (2) there was the old 
contention, still unsettled, 
with regard to the North- 
west boundary ; (3) in ad- 
dition, there was a scheme 
not yet made public but 
close to Polk's heart, and 
this was nothing less than 
the purchase from Mexico of her great province of California. 
To restore friendly relations with Mexico and accomplish his 




.— Boundary of the present State of Texas 
— West line of the region held by Texans in 

■845 
Boundary of region claimed by both Texas 

and Mexico 
CD Region subsequently renounced by Texas 

to the United States (1850) 



TEXAS BOUNDARY PROBLEM 



1 The admission of Texas was not completed until February, 1846, when a 
state government replaced the former national government of Texas. Said the 
retiring president, Anson Jones, in his valedictory: "The lone star of Texas, 
which ten years since arose amid clouds over fields of carnage and shone ob- 
scurely for a while, has culminated, and, following an inscrutable destiny, has 
passed on and become fixed forever in that glorious constellation which all 
freemen and lovers of freedom in the world must reverence and adore — the 
American Union." 



362 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



purposes by negotiation was the aim of the President during 
several months of fruitless diplomacy in which the Mexican 
leaders proved to be masters of double-dealing. His patience 
exhausted, Polk was on the point of adopting a more peremp- 
tory course, when news was received at Washington of a clash 
between American and Mexican troops on the Rio Grande. 

Polk had previously instructed General Zachary Taylor 
to cross the Nueces River, which Mexico claimed as her bound- 




VVINFIELD SCOTT 



ZACHARY TAYLOR 



ary, and advance to the Rio Grande, the boundary claimed 
by Texas. There, Taylor was attacked by the Mexicans, 
April 25, 1846. Polk speedily informed Congress that " now, 
after reiterated menaces, Mexico has passed the boundary of 
the United States and shed American blood on American 
soil." Congress at once appropriated funds for " the prosecu- 
tion of the existing war." ^ 

' There was bitter contention throughout the country with regard to the war. 
The Whigs, though opposed, gave it unwilling support "on the ground that the 
army had been forced into a perilous position and must be rescued." The 
Liberty party was unconditional in its opposition. Their attitude was 
brilliantly expressed in the "Biglow Papers" of Lowell. 



THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SECTIONS 363 



514. The Northwestern Settlement. However, the sum- 
mer passed before an American army could be assembled for 
the invasion of Mexico, and meanwhile Polk brought one of his 
three undertakings to a successful close. He was enabled to 
do so because England, at this critical moment, proposed to 
compromise the Oregon question by fixing the boundary at 
the forty-ninth parallel. Congress advised Polk to accept 
the compromise, and by a treaty drawn up in June, 1846, 
the long dispute was 
finally settled.^ 

515. The Mexican 
War. Turning upon 
Mexico, the Ameri- 
cans now demon- 
strated their instinc- 
tive military talent. 
Taylor's campaign in 
northern Mexico is 
one of the most bril- 
liant episodes in our 
mihtary annals. He 
was uniformly suc- 
cessful against 
greatly superior num- 
bers. The climax of 
his advance was a 
crushing defeat of 
the Mexicans in the 
hard-fought battle of Buena Vista, February 22-23, 1847. 

Equally remarkable was the success of an American army 
which entered Mexico from the east. General Winfield Scott 
took his forces by sea to Vera Cruz, whence he marched upon 
the city of Mexico. The battle of Cerro Gordo, April 18, 

* See Polk's "Diary," index; also, an excellent brief account in McMaster, 
"United States," VII, 407-420. The line of the forty-ninth parallel had 
previously been proposed by the Americans and rejected by England. 




THE CAMPAIGNS OF THE MEXICAN WAR 



364 AMERICAN HISTORY 

1847, cleared the way for the fall of the Mexican capital, which 
was entered by Scott, September 14, 1847. 

The war was closed by the Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, 
February 2, 1848. Mexico gave up all claim to the country 
north of the Rio Grande and, in addition, ceded to the United 
States her northern provinces of New Mexico ^ and California. 
The United States paid Mexico $15,000,000. 

Thus Polk had concluded all of his three undertakings, 
but the final result of his course formed a startling surprise to 
the President and his party. To understand this surprise 
we must once more pause and review a train of past events. 



\^. Ci\LIFORNIA 

516. Earliest California. The beautiful and romantic 
region of California was first explored by the Spanish con- 
querors of Mexico. It is probable that the first EngUsh spoken 
in California was uttered by the crew of Sir Francis Drake,^ 
who is thought to have put into the harbor of San Francisco ' 
while on his voyage around the world. Hardly any more 
English was heard in California during the next two hundred 
years. Meanwhile, a few Spanish settlers came in, and some 
small Spanish towns were built. Missionary priests from 
Spain erected monasteries, or " missions," which were ex- 
tensive, thick-walled buildings, each inclosing a courtyard 
bordered by an arcade. These missions formed centers for 
the picturesque Old-World life which is the local background 
of Cahfornia history. 

1 This cession included all of the present area of the West from Texas to 
Oregon, except a small portion along the present border of Mexico. This latter 
portion was bought from Mexico in 1853 and was known as "the Gadsden 
Purchase." 

- It is said that Drake received some sort of submission from the Indians and 
proclaimed the region English soil. 

' Some students insist that the harbor visited by Drake was the one 
now known as Drake's Bay. See Royce, "California," lo-ii ; Bancroft, 
"California," I, 81-94. 




Texas (184.5) 
Oregon (1S4B) 
Mexican Cession (1848) 
Gadsden Purchase (1853) 



Original Area of U.S. 827,844 

Area of Louisiana Purchase 875,025 



THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SECTIONS 365 



517. Americans in California. Early in the nineteenth 
century bold adventurers from the United States began to 
make their way to California. In those days it was an almost 
fabulous land separated from the settled country by an 
enormous extent of trackless mountain and unknown desert. 
Nevertheless that lure of the West which has affected our 
history so deeply did its final work in drawing Americans 
across the western desert to the genuine land of the sunset, 
— California. 

As early as 1820, Major Long explored the Rocky Moun- 
tains and opened the Santa Fe trail to the southwest. In 



''^^^7^ 







I V ^\ 



k^_rSM*^llf;:'>' 'M 








SANTA BARBARA MISSION, CALIFORNIA 

1826 Jedediah H. Smith led a party of American trappers to 
Cahfornia. About the same time began trade by sea between 
Cahfornia and New England round Cape Horn. By 1836 
there were several hundred Americans in California, and a 
number of them took part in the " Alvarado revolution," 
which came near making California a sovereign state, but 
eventually failed.^ Soon afterward a dashing young officer 
of the United States, Captain John C. Fremont, explored the 
northern Rockies and found a way across them to California. 
The name of " Pathfinder," given him in consequence, has 
been appHed to him ever since. 

1 See brief review in Royce, "California," 24-28; full account in Bancroft, 
"California," III. 



366 AMERICAN HISTORY 

In the wake of the Pathfinder, Americans began making 
their way along the difficult northern trail, where the hardships 
were such that all but the bravest faltered. A famous in- 
stance has been enshrined in the memory of California as 
typical of the sufferings of the first comers. What is known 
as the " Donner Party " numbered, at the start, eighty-seven 
people, men, women, and children. They lost their way 
and were overtaken amid snow-clad mountains by frightful 
storms which rendered the passage of the mountains during 
the remainder of that winter all but impossible. For months 
they camped, starving among the snows. Only a pitiful rem- 
nant was at length found by rescuers and taken to Sutter's 
Fort in the Sacramento Valley. The rest had died of cold and 
starvation. 

518. California Republic. At first the relations between 
the American emigrants and the native Californians were 
friendly. But when trouble arose between the United States 
and Mexico, the Americans and the Mexicans of California 
began to look upon each other with distrust. Presently, 
wild rumors began to pass from mouth to mouth. It was 
reported that Mexico meant to drive out all the Americans. 
In June, 1846, the two races suddenly began fighting. The 
first blow was struck by the Americans, who seized the town of 
Sonoma and made it their base for rallying an army. They 
raised at Sonoma the now famous " bear flag," a white flag 
on which was painted a grizzly bear and the words " Cali- 
fornia Republic." 

Fremont at that time was still exploring in California. 
Feehng that here was a great chance to strike a blow for 
American supremacy in the West, he hurried to Sonoma and 
took command of the revolt. 

519. Conquest of California. The conquest of Cahfornia 
by the Americans went forward with great rapidity. An 
American fleet had been sent to the Pacific in anticipation of 
such an emergency, and as soon as it was known that the 
Mexican War had begun, the fleet acted. Commodore Sloal 



THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SECTIONS 367 

landed at Monterey, raised the American flag, and proclaimed 
California annexed to the United States (July 7, 1846). 

Fremont organized a force of riflemen — his " Cahfornia 
battalion " — and the naval authorities named him provisional 
governor. However, the conquest was not yet accomplished 
and the act of Fremont most deserving of praise was yet 
to take place. The native Californians rallied against the 
Americans, but on January 8-9, 1847, ^t the San Gabriel 
River, they were defeated by a force of Americans com- 
manded by Commodore Stockton and General Stephen 
Kearney,^ who had advanced against them from the south. 
Fremont at the same time was marching against them from 
the north. The defeated Californians hastened to make 
their submission to Fremont, preferring to trust his mercy 
rather than that of Kearney, for the latter had threatened 
them with destruction. They had judged well. Fremont 
pardoned them all.- This generous action marked the close 
of the colonial period of California history. 



VII. REORGANIZATION OF PARTIES 

520. The Western Problem. We have seen that the Treaty 
of Guadaloupe Hidalgo confirmed the United States in the 
possession of California. Thus, through the rapid acquisition 
of new regions — Texas, Oregon, Cahfornia — the United 
States had so enlarged its area that a distinctly new section 
had been created, the Farther West. The absorbing question 

^ Kearney had started westward along the Santa Fe trail at the opening of 
the war. He occupied the town of Santa Fe, August 18, 1846, declared New 
Mexico annexed to the United States, and organized a civil government. 
Thence he pushed on to California. 

2 This action led to a bitter dispute between Fremont and Kearney as to 
who was the superior officer. It ended in Fremont's being summoned to Wash- 
ington to be tried by court martial on the charge of mutiny. He was found 
guilty but was pardoned by President Polk. Resigning from the army, he 
returned to California to make his home there. When California became a state 
he returned to Washington as a senator. 



368 AMERICAN HISTORY 

of 1848 was — how should the Farther West be organized, 
should it be opened or closed to slavery ? 

Polk had schemed to open a considerable part, at least, to 
slavery. In opposition to him various Northern leaders 
demanded that slavery be excluded altogether from the 
Farther West.^ A middle ground was taken by those who 
proposed to extend the line of the Missouri Compromise to the 
Pacific, cutting Cahfornia in two. There were excited de- 
bates on the subject in Congress, in 1848, but nothing was 
accomphshcd except the organization of the territory of 
Oregon. After much contention both Houses had consented 
to let Oregon be organized without slavery. Congress then 
adjourned and the dispute was taken up by the national 
party conventions. 

521. The Changed Parties. And now it became plain 
that a transformation had recently taken place in American 
politics. It will be understood most readily through a brief 
review of the history of the parties between 1836 and 1848. 
In 1836, when Van Buren was elected, the Democrats rep- 
resented, at least in the North and West, the extreme of 
Jacksonian faith in popular government. Van Buren, how- 
ever, through his course in 1837 (section 489), gave his party 
a new significance. He ahenated many of the followers of 
Jackson but secured to the remainder of the party a genuine 
unity. In this second phase of the Jacksonian party, though 
it was taken for granted that the people should control politics, 
the matters chiefly insisted upon were general questions of 
public poUcy not involving class distinctions. 

This was an inevitable change, because the popular move- 

' This proposition, ignoring the Missouri Compromise, was first made in 
1846. Polk asked Congress for $2,000,000 to be used in "negotiations" with 
Mexico. David Wilmot of Pennsjdvania moved an amendment to the bill 
appropriating the money. This was the famous "Wilmot Proviso," which 
declared that "as an express and fundamental condition to the acquisition of 
any territory . . . neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever e.xist in 
any part of said territory." The bill failed, but it marked the opening of a new 
and more vindictive stage of the long contention over slavery. 



THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SECTIONS 369 

ment all over the North and West could not be confined to 
any one party. ^ As we have seen, the Whigs — who were 
not really in sympathy with the masses — had promptly 
surrendered to the popular movement and made every effort 
not to seem a party of aristocrats. They had sought to make 
it appear that their doctrine of a " strong " government not 
afraid to interfere with business was a benefit to the mass of 
the people. It was with this argument that they elected 
Harrison in 1840. Thereafter, no class distinction separated 
the two parties, whose antagonism was now based on genuine 
difference of political principle. In the main they had revived 
the old parties of the previous generation. The Democrats 
held the principles of Jefferson ; they had thrown off all 
nationalistic tendencies and based their policy consistently 
on the two ideas of states' rights and non-interference of the 
government in business. The Whigs, on the other hand, had 
frankly revived the principles of Hamilton ; they wanted the 
states subordinated to the central government, and they 
wanted that government to have a free hand to legislate as it 
thought best with regard to business. Each side strove to 
prove that its principles were best for rich and poor alike, 
for both the high and the low. 

522. The New Slavery Question. However, we have not 
yet perceived the whole of the change that had taken place 
since Van Buren's election. In the twelve years between 1836 
and 1848 the southern wing of the Democratic party had ac- 

' Unless this is steadily borne in mind, neither the later history of the parties 
nor the differing social structures of North and South in i860 can be under- 
stood. Even the significance of Jackson is frequently misstated. He is spoken 
of as the beginner of an era. In a sense he was, but still more truly he was the 
closer of a gradual social revolution, which began almost with the beginning of 
the Union and found triumphant expression in Jackson. The moment it 
triumphed, all politicians accepted the fact and immediately began building 
upon it. Immediately, popular control of politics became the condition 
assumed by all, and thereupon men began recorabining to express general prin- 
ciples of government under this condition. The key to what follows is the fact 
that this revolution was at first northern and western, and did not, for another 
generation, affect the South. 



370 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



cepted the domination of that group of politicians who held 
the new view with regard to slavery (section 471), maintaining 
that it was a positive good for both black and white. The 
great Calhoun had joined this group and used his wonder- 
ful genius in spreading its views. He declared that slavery- 
was the cornerstone of Southern society, that it must be 
systematically encouraged, and that there must be new slave 
states. 

The attitude toward slavery, now that so much fresh terri- 
tory had been acquired, gave poHtics a new aspect in 1848. 
Twelve years before, when Van Burcn became the champion 
of the South against the abolitionists, this question had not 
existed. Slavery was then on the defensive, and Garrison 
was seeking to interfere with it in states where it had long been 
estabhshed. Many Northerners, who personally disapproved 
of slavery, joined with those who thought it a good thing in 
telling Garrison to mind his own business. That was Van 
Buren's position in 1836. But in 1848 slavery was on the in- 
crease. The question was now, not whether slavery should be 
let alone, but whether it should be assisted to grow. 

This question, as soon as it was clearly perceived, revealed 
a difference of opinion among Northern Democrats. Some 
of them, it appeared, were quite willing to acquiesce in the 
new-style Southern view and encourage slavery, but a great 
number of them were not. The latter, the moment slavery 
showed signs of expanding, feh that they must oppose it even 
if they had to withdraw from their party. Among these was 
the great organizer of the party, Van Buren. 

The Democratic presidential nominee, Lewis Cass of Michi- 
gan, was an out-and-out friend of slavery. Rather than sup- 
port him, Van Buren and other Democrats revolted. Many 
Democrats left the party and became organizers of the " Free- 
Soil " movement. This must not be confused with the aboHtion 
movement, for these seceding Democrats were willing to let 
slavery alone where it then existed, but were unconditionally 
opposed to its extension into the new territory recently ac- 



THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SECTIONS 371 

quired. The " Free-Soilers " held a national convention at 
Buffalo. They nominated Van Buren for President, and for 
vice president Charles Francis Adams, the talented son of 
John Quincy Adams. ^ 

523. Election of Taylor. The election of 1848 was decided 
by two things. One was the personal popularity of the Whig 
candidate, General Taylor, who had borne himself so gallantly 
in the Mexican War. The other was the effect of the Demo- 
cratic spHt on the vote of New York. The seceding Free- 
Soilers drew off so many votes from Cass that Taylor was 
enabled to carry the state and was elected. 

524. Democratic Party after 1848. Few national elections 
have been more significant. It fixed the issue that remained 
the absorbing one until the outbreak of the Civil War. This 
was : Shall slavery be extended into the territories ? The 
election also consolidated a party that was bent on answering 
"Yes." This was the Democratic party, which now, through 
the secession of its Free-Soil members, became all of one 
mind on the subject of slavery. 

VIII. THE COMPROMISE OF 1850 

525. The Congress of 1850. Thus everything was ready 
for a great struggle in the next Congress, which was due to 
meet December 3, 1849. The regular Democrats had a major- 
ity in the Senate. Neither Democrats nor Whigs had a ma- 
jority in the House. There, a small group of Free-Soilers 
held the balance of power. It was plain that any proposition 
relating to the West or to slavery would be fought over with 
great bitterness. 

526. Gold. Between the election of this Congress in 1848 
and its meeting in 1849, a new factor was added to the problem, 
already so distressingly complex. All of a sudden the people 

iThe Liberty party was effaced politically by the Free-Soil party. Ex- 
treme abolitionists continued hostile to the principles of this new party, but 
they ceased nominating candidates for President. 



372 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



of California organized a state government, and demanded 
admission to the Union. ^ This sudden popular upheaval was 
a result of the discovery of gold. In January, 1848, some bits 
of gold were washed out of the earth at Sutter's Fort. 
The discovery had a magical effect. From the coast settle- 
ments of California almost every one rushed into the interior. 
In the East, also, the news caused wild excitement. Thou- 
sands of the most adventurous men of the East packed up and 




SUTTER'S FORT 

started for California — some by the long voyage round Cape 
Horn, some overland. Many perished of hardship on the way, 
but great numbers, in the course of the next year, reached their 
goal. These were the now famous " Forty-niners " of Cali- 
fornia. In that one year the American population of Cali- 
fornia increased from a few hundred to more than a hundred 
thousand. 

527. Californian Government. There was no machinery 
of government with which to control this great number of 

' In this bold move they had the encouragement of Taylor. 



THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SECTIONS 373 

hardy and often reckless men. Therefore, they took matters 
into their own hands. They had in them the instinctive sense 
of free representative government inherited from many genera- 
tions of self-governing Americans. This instinct was expressed 
in a convention which assembled September i, 1849, a-t Mon- 
terey. Three important things were done by this convention. 
It drew up a plan of government ; it forbade slavery ; and it 
marked out the boundaries which the Californians agreed to 
demand as the hmits of their proposed state. The work of 
the convention was ratified by popular vote November 13, 

1849.' 

528. The Problem of Congress. All this was done without 
the least authority from Congress. When Congress met, in 
December, the state of California was already in existence. 
It was composed of as bold and hardy men as were to be found 
anywhere, and there were many thousands of them. Here 
was a factor in the situation, unsuspected when the Congress 
was elected but with which it now had to reckon. Plainly 
there were but three courses before it. It might refuse to 
recognize the self-constituted state and order a second con- 
quest of Cahfornia, — a conquest of the Americans there. 
It might accept the state as an accomplished fact with its 
prohibition of slavery and admit it to the Union. It might 
attempt to divide the state in two. In order to defend any 
of these courses, Congress would have to agree upon a general 
principle by which to deal with slavery in the future. The 
situation, at the opening of 1850, seemed well-nigh desperate. 

529. The Compromise Debates. During the better part 
of the year the various factions in Congress fought over this 

^ These founders of the free state of California were animated by much the 
same motives as the Free-Soilers of the East. Among them were many South- 
erners. Very few, if any, were abolitionists. But all were bent on securing 
the new land for those who sought fortune through their own toil ; and all meant 
to exclude the slaveholder, whose coming would force the free white pioneer to 
compete with unpaid labor. Their bill of rights began, "All men are by nature 
free and independent and have certain inalienable rights, among which are those 
of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring and possessing property, 
and pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness." 



374 AMERICAN HISTORY 

great matter. All the chief political leaders took part. The 
older generation was represented by Clay, Webster, Calhoun. 
Among the young men, who were destined to play great parts 
in the future, were such Northerners as Seward of New York, 
Chase of Ohio, and Douglas of Illinois. Prominent among 
the younger Southerners were Stephens and Toombs of 
Georgia, and Jefferson Davis of Mississippi. 

In the course of their contentions, all their cardinal prin- 
ciples were fully stated. The irreconcilable difference be- 
tween nationalists and states' rights men was put as bluntly 
as possible. The debates were given a tragic appearance — 
as well as a tragic significance — by the failing health of one 
of the chief figures. Calhoun was dying. Nevertheless, he 
insisted upon taking his place in the Senate, though at times 
he was too feeble to trust his voice in speaking. Only his 
unconquerable will kept him alive during these trying scenes. 
His greatest speech he wrote out and had read to the Senate 
by John M. Mason. During the reading Calhoun sat motion- 
less — plainly in the shadow of death. 

The states' rights view of the Union — namely, that it was 
a mere league from which any state could withdraw whenever 
it chose — received final expression in this debate. It was 
stated best by Southerners but was practically endorsed by 
some of the Northerners. Some of the Southerners opposed 
it. Among these was Samuel Houston, Senator from Texas. 
Though Calhoun frankly threatened secession if the South 
were not given a fair share of the new country, Houston made 
a sensation by declaring that he would stand by the Union. 
On March 7 Webster delivered a famous speech. " There 
can be no such thing as peaceable secession," said he; "dis- 
ruption . . . must produce war and such a war as I will not 
describe. ..." Here was the nationalist principle stated 
without reserve. Clay was equally unconditional. He de- 
clared that whoever attempted disunion would be a " traitor," 
and added, " I hope he will meet the fate of a traitor." 

Nevertheless, both Clay and Webster, with many others 



THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SECTIONS 375 

among the nationalists, shrank from forcing the issue. By 
degrees all considerations merged in one — anxiety for the 
Union. Clay took the lead in devising a compromise. Web- 
ster ably seconded him, and though some extreme nationalists 
charged Webster with treachery to his side, a compromise was 
finally brought about. ^ It embraced a number of provisions. 
Only two, however, were of lasting significance: (i) the 
western country was divided between slavery and freedom, 
California and Oregon continuing free, while Texas and all 
the remainder — covering the present states of New Mexico, 
Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and part of Colorado — was opened 
to slavery; (2) a severe law was passed for the pursuit and 
capture of fugitive slaves escaping into free states.^ 

530. Substance of the Compromise of 1850. Stated 
broadly, the compromise admitted that the Union now em- 
braced two distinct sections, doubtfully united. It settled 
a few points as to the future relations of these sections and 
sharply defined their boundaries on the map. In the very 
nature of things, as we can see to-day, it was a temporary 
arrangement — a mere truce, not a real peace. And yet at 
the time people were so eager for any sort of peace that it 
was hailed with rejoicing. The men of 1850 — all, that is, 
but a few extremists — now assured each other that there was 
an end of such contentions, and that the terrible slavery 
question was " finally settled." 

Selections from the Sources. Jom^soN,' Readings, 370-415; Mac- 
DONALD, Source Book, l^os. 71, 81-84, 87-108; Documents, Nos. 46, 50, 

1 The compromise was expressed in five bills. It is a question whether 
President Taylor would have signed them. His sudden death and the suc- 
cession of Vice President Fillmore, July, 1850, made certain the completion of 
the compromise. 

2 The fugitive slave law of 1793 (section 401, note) had been rendered in- 
effective by a decision of the United States Supreme Court in 1842 (Sprigg vs. 
Pennsylvania, see Johnson, "Readings," 416) laying down the principle that 
state officers could not be compelled to execute the federal statute. The fugitive 
slave law of 1850 (see Macdonald, "Source Book," No. 106; "Documents," 
No. 82) provided federal machinery for its execution. 



376 AMERICAN HISTORY 

52, 54, 57-68, 70-84; Benton, Thirty Years' View, I, chaps. cxHv, cxlv ; 
II, chaps, xxiv, cxxxv-cxlili, clxxxiv-cxcvii ; Polk, Diary; Garrison, 
Diplomatic Correspondence of the Republic oj Texas; Fremont, Report; 
Hart, Contemporaries, III, Nos. 158-162, 185-179; IV, Nos. 7-22; 
Johnston, American Orations, II ; Moore, Digest of International Law, 
(Texas) I, 277, 274, 446-457; (Oregon) I, 259, 260, 265, 457-458, 462, 
463; II, 277; V, 720; (California) I, 46, 291, 306, 315, 317, 323. 

Secondary Accounts. Coman, Economic Beginnings of the Far West, 
I, 28-375; II, 75-331; Industrial History, 227-235, 243-265; Schouler, 
United States, IV, 359-550; V, 1-260; Von Holst, Constitutional His- 
tory, II, 1-39, 553-570; III, chaps, iii-viii, xiii-xvi ; Rhodes, United 
States, I, 75-302; Wilson, Division and Reunion, sees. 34-52,67-86; 
American People, IV, 88-128; Garrison, Westward Extension; Stan- 
wood, Presidency, 206-257 > Turner, New West, chaps, v-viii; Semple, 
Geographic Cotulitions, chaps, x-xii; Burgess, Middle Period, chaps, 
xiii-xvi; Smith, The Annexation of Texas; Davis, Rise and Fall of the 
Confederate Government, I, chaps, ii, iii ; Smith, Liberty and Free Soil 
Parties, 48-120; Dewey, Financial History, sees. 102-109; Sato, 
Land Question, 6o-6g; Sparks, Expansion, 296-309,319-350; Foster, 
Century of Diplomacy, 273-325; Latane, United States and Spanish 
America, 105-116, 176-194; American Relations in the Pacific, 72-123; 
ScHURZ, Henry Clay, II, 199-415; Hunt, Calhoun, 199-321; Lodge, 
Webster, 265-333; McLaughlin, Lewis Cass, 175-292; Roosevelt, 
T. H. Benton, 210-289; Morse, Abraham Lincoln, I, 1-93; Bancroft, 
W. H. Seward, 1, 1-332 ; Hart, Chase, 95-132 ; Elliott, Sam Houston, 
122-133; Howard, General Taylor, 76-294; Brown, Douglas, 1-81 ; 
Wright, General Scott, 149-2S8; Wilson, General Grant, 1-73; Garri- 
son, Texas; Winn, Mormons; Royce, California; Richman, Cali- 
fornia under Spain and Mexico; Parkman, The Oregon Trail; Bar- 
rows, Oregon; Thwaites, Rocky Mountain Exploration; E. G. Bourne, 
The Legend of Marcus Whitman (American Historical Review, VI, 276- 
300) ; Garrison, First Stage of the Movement for the Annexation of Texas 
(.\merican Historical Review, X, 72-96). 

Topics for Special Report, i. Jackson. 2. The Opposition to the 
United States Bank. 3. The Policy of Van Buren. 4. The Republic 
of Texas. 5. The Alaska Boundary. 6. The Occupation of Oregon. 
7. Polk's Negotiations with Mexico. 8. Early Settlers of California. 
9. The Formation of the State of California. 10. The Compromise of 
1850. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

THE MIDDLE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

631. Merchant Marine. The country in which these fierce 
disputes took place was now fast approaching the stature 
of a first-class power. Its energy had estabhshed commercial 
relations with all parts of the world. The fast-saihng " clipper 
ships " of the Americans were famous upon all the seas. 
Steamships, however, were beginning to compete with clippers. 
In 1847 Congress began granting subsidies to steamship lines 
across the ocean, giving $850,000 a year to a line running to 
Bremen. 

532. Panama. American interests abroad took several 
new turns about the middle of the century. For one thing 
the Isthmus of Panama began to figure constantly in the 
thought of Americans. In 1846 a treaty was made with New 
Granada (now United States of Colombia) by which the 
United States of America guaranteed to protect the isthmus 
in case any foreign power should attempt to seize it ; in return 
we were promised equal rights with other countries should a 
canal be built. 

533. Oriental Trade. The annexation of California, which 
was largely responsible for this interest in the isthmus, also 
stimulated trade with the East. In fact, Americans had 
had their eyes on the harbor of San Francisco for that express 
purpose. Already the Sandwich Islands were under the in- 
fluence of American missionaries and the native kings treated 
Americans as a " favored nation." In 1844 China made a 
treaty opening five " treaty ports " to American ships. Japan, 
however, refused to open any of her ports until 1854, when 
Commodore Perry, with an American fleet, forced the Japanese 

377 




THE SYSTEM OF COMMUNICATION IN 1850 
378 




THE SYSTEM OF COMMUNICATION IN 1850 
379 



380 AMERICAN HISTORY 

to sign a treaty. From that time forward American interests 
in the Orient steadily j)rogressed. 

534. Internal Commerce. This growing commerce abroad 
was paralleled by growing commerce among the states them- 
selves. It was at this time that the short railroad lines began 
to be consolidated into long " through " systems. In 1853 
ten short lines were combined to form the New York Central. 
That same year there was a continuous line of rails from New 
York to Chicago ; in 1859, from New York to New Orleans. 
By i860 there were 30,000 miles of railroad. 

535. Land Grants. Congress began aiding the railroads 
with large grants of land, the first of which was made to the 
Illinois Central in 1850. There was general talk of a trans- 
continental railway, and the War Department in 1853, when 
Jefferson Davis was secretary, surveyed a route. However, 
railways were quite different from what they are to-day. 
The cars were small and uncomfortable. As late as i860, the 
best time made between New York and Chicago was thirty- 
eight hours. 

536. Post Office and Express. With the growth of rail- 
roads came imjirovcmcnts in the Post Office Department. 
In 1847 postage stamps were introduced, and in 1863 the rate 
on a sealed letter was reduced to three cents, which remained 
the charge for many years thereafter. Packages, however, 
were not carried either by the post office or by the railroads. 
Therefore, small express companies came into existence. In 
1854 a large company, the Adams Express, was organized 
and began to operate on an extensive scale. Not long after, 
Wells, Fargo and Company organized an express system on the 
Pacific coast. 

537. Inventions. Business was further stimulated by in- 
ventions. In 1845 ^^^ McCormick reaper began revolution- 
izing methods in farming. In 1846 Elias Howe invented the 
sewing machine. In 1847 ^^e rotary printing press was 
invented by Richard Hoe. These were but a few of many 
inventions that soon made American ingenuity famous 



THE MIDDLE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 381 

throughout the world. Perhaps the most important invention 
of that day was the electric telegraph designed by Samuel F. B. 
Morse. The first successful line was operated in 1844. One 
of the earliest messages was the news, sent from Baltimore to 
Washington, that Polk had been nominated for President. 

538. New Industries. With the inventions came increased 
opportunity to use them. Oil was discovered in Pennyslvania 
in 1859, and gave rise to an enormous quantity of new busi- 
ness. Mining also became one of the chief industries ; coal, 
iron, copper, silver, and gold, all were produced in abundance. 

539. Industrial Conditions. Industrial conditions were 
changing fast. The rapid increase of wealth and new con- 
ditions of labor created new problems. On the one hand, 
capital began combining into great corporations from which 
sprang the trusts of the present day ; banking became more 
and more important, and in 1853 the New York clearing house 
was organized. On the other hand, laboring men began taking 
thought how to better their condition through organizations 
of their own, with the result that trades unions became im- 
portant factors in American life. As early as 1840 there was 
a demand to shorten the day's labor and ten hours were made 
the legal day for all federal employees. What are known 
as " labor troubles," attended by strikes and lockouts, were 
first known in the United States about the middle of the 
century. 

540. Population. Altogether, there were in the United 
States in 1850, 23,191,876 people; in i860, 31,443,321. East 
of the Mississippi the whole country was populated fairly 
thickly, more so in the North than in the South. The greater 
population of the North was due largely to its cities, which 
were the result of the manufactures. The census of i860 
showed 158 cities, five sixths of them in the North. New 
Orleans with 168,000 people was, in i860, the one large city 
in the Southern states. Charleston had but 41,000. Be- 
sides the great cities of the East, many towns in the West 
were fast becoming important. Cincinnati and St. Louis had 



382 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



each 161,000, while Chicago — now so gigantic — was still 
but a small place of 109,000 inhabitants. Louisville had 
only 68,000 ; Pittsburg, 49,000 ; Detroit, Milwaukee, and 
Cleveland, each about 45,000. One sixth of the whole 
population lived in cities. 

541. Civic Improvement. One of the notable movements of 
the times was a general effort to improve the cities. Previous 

to 1840 they had 
been generally ill- 
paved, ill-lighted, 
badly drained, and 
inadequately po- 
liced. Gradually a 
revolution in all 
these respects took 
place. In 1857 New 
York organized its 
uniformed and dis- 
ciplined "metropoli- 
tan police" and laid 
out the first pleasure 
ground designed on 
a large scale, Central 
Park. Street rail- 
ways had come into 
general use some 
ten years earlier. 

542. Education. 
Education was much 
what it had been fifty years before, except that schools were 
more numerous and less expensive. Massachusetts led the 
way in giving a larger share of the taxes to public schools and 
in organizing a State Board of Education. 

Several new universities enlarged the opportunity for higher 
education. The University of Virginia — founded by Jeffer- 
son in 1819 — was the first American institution framed on 




UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA 



THE MIDDLE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 383 

European models and giving elective studies. Other state 
universities contributed to bring higher education within the 
reach of the people. There were many endowed colleges. 
Law, medical, and divinity schools were now numerous. For 
a long time the federal government had maintained its own 
academies — one at West Point to train officers for the army, 
one at Annapolis, for the navy. 

543. Intellectual Activity. The third quarter of the cen- 
tury was a vigorous period intellectually, when some of the 
most famous American writing was produced. Emerson, 
Hawthorne, Lowell, in the North, Poe, Simms, Timrod, in 
the South, were all at their best in those years. In the middle 
of the century a characteristic American institution, the 
popular magazine, had its beginning. Before then we had 
literary reviews, such as the North American and De Bow's 
Review, but a new chapter was begun by Harper's Monthly 
Magazine in 1850. Newspapers also took on a new phase. 
Such famous papers as the New York Sun, the Herald, and 
the Tribune, all acquired their particular lines of thought 
and style shortly before 1850. 
The combination of many news- 
papers in the Associated Press 
was effected in 1849. 

544 Humanitarianism. It was 
an age of humanitarian endeavor. 
As far back as 1830, interest had 
been aroused in prison reform and 
a model prison was built at Phila- 
delphia. This interest extended 
to poorhouses and asylums. A 
great woman, Dorothea Dix, in- 

* , ' . , ' , DOROTHEA DIX 

carnated a new sense of duty which 

compelled people to feel an obligation with regard to the 
neglected classes, — " the lame, the halt, and the bhnd." 
Her most notable achievement was the establishment of pubHc 
asylums for the insane. 




384 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



545. Woman's Rights. Other women had already made 
themselves felt in the public life of America. What is known 
as the " Woman's Rights Movement " dates back to about 
1830. Frances Wright, one of the most striking figures of her 
day, was among its first leaders. She was succeeded by such 
women as Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony, and Mary B. 
Livermore. Among the first demands of this movement was 
better education for women. Almost at once many public 
schools were opened to girls, and academies especially for 
girls were founded. Oberlin College established coeducation 

iij 1833. The demand for 
woman suffrage, however, had 
to wait another generation be- 
fore it gained its first victories. 
546. Prohibition. Another 
rcfomi tendency of that time 
was the movement against the 
use of spirituous Hquors. Until 
about 1840 there was scarcely 
any restriction upon their use 
in all classes of life, from the 
liflfc clergy at their dinner tables to 

the sailors in the forecastles. 
The abuse of the custom led 
to the formation of Washing- 
tonian societies, whose members were pledged to use liquor 
in moderation. Soon a further step was taken, and in 1851 
Maine adopted the first state prohibition law. 

547. Communism. A curious feature of the time was a 
widespread impulse to invent new forms of social life. Little 
communities were organized which put various theories to 
the test of experiment. Such were " The New Harmony 
Community of Equality " in Indiana, and later the famous 
" Brook Farm " in Massachusetts. These and other communi- 
ties of experiment bore witness to the belief that society stood 
in need of some sort of reorganization. There was a time when 




I'RANCES WRIGHT 



THE MIDDLE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 385 



Emerson could say, " Not a leading man but has a draft of a 
new community in his waistcoat pocket." 

548. The Mormons. One of these societies had a remark- 
able career. At Palmyra, in New York, Joseph Smith an- 
nounced himself the prophet of a new religion. He told how 
the angel of the Lord had come to him in a vision and revealed 
to him the Book of Mormon. On the principles laid down 
in the Book he 
founded a commu- 
nity at Kirtland, 
in Ohio. Thence 
the Mormons 
moved to Nauvoo, 
Illinois, where they 
grew into a city of 
twenty thousand. 
However, the Mor- 
mons inspired dis- 
trust in their neigh- 
bors and even 
defied the laws of 
the state ; finally 
there was a popu- 
lar tumult in which 
Smith was killed 
(1844). Soon af- 
terward his followers went still farther west and, under the 
leadership of Brigham Young, settled Utah. 

549. Conditions in the North. The industrial and social 
conditions at which we have glanced characterized the North. 
They were scarcely in evidence in the South. In the North 
commerce and manufactures were even more important than 
agriculture. The North was also a democratic country, 
where an industrial revolution had broken down completely 
the social system of 1789. The " old families " had either 
sunk into the masses, or had joined hands with the " new " 




MORMON TEMPLE, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 



386 AMERICAN fflSTORY 

people whose fortunes had been made in the recent expansion 
of business. The popular will — expressed through political 
clubs — was the ruling power in poHtics. When a man of 
ancient name took the lead in pohtics, he did so through his 
own personal chann, or as the head of a club, not any longer 
as a member of an upper class pri\-ileged to lead. Almost 
everywhere in the North the suffrage had been freed of practi- 
cally all restrictions.^ 

550. Conditions in the South. The South was quite 
different. It had taken no part in the industrial revolution, 
and unlike the North, had neither manufacturing cities nor a 
great number of foreign-born citizens. Its social system was 
still the same that had been common to both sections in 1789. 
The presence of slavery had serv'ed as an economic break- 
water that turned aside the industrial current and kept it 
from undermining the aristocracy of the South. Consequently 
Southern life was dominated in 1861 by the same classes that 
dominated it in 1 789. 

The one source of prosperity in the South was agriculture. 
The plantation, wdth its hospitable mansion, its retinue of 
slaves, its broad tract of surrounding land, was still the center 
of Southern hfe. The aristocracy all possessed plantations. 
They varied greatly in extent, however. The number of his 
slaves was the best gauge of a man's wealth, and there is record 
of some sixty-seven famihes each of which owned more than 
three hundred slaves. The total number of families owning a 
hundred slaves or more was reported in the census of 1850 
as 1733. However, these great slaveholders were a compara- 
tively small portion of the conmiunity. More than half of 
the slaveholders owned less than five slaves each. The census 
of 1850 shows that in most of the Southern states less than a 

1 In some states there were educational qualifications and as late as 1842 
Rhode Island still restricted the suffrage to property holders. What is known 
as the "Dorr Rebellion" was a p)etty insurrection in Rhode Island to seciire 
manhood suffrage. Though tha "rebellion" was suppressed, the recognized 
authorities soon adopted the views of the rebels and abolished property quali- 
fications for the siiffrage. 




ngjtude Un'^ West ^^m m Greenwich 




THE UNITED STATES ^ 

in 1850 

Sectional Boundary 



THE MIDDLE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 387 

third of all the white families held slaves.^ Some of the non- 
slaveholders were prosperous farmers ; some were dependents 
of the slaveholders ; while the great mass of them, known as 
" poor whites," occupied a place in society similar to that of the 
peasantry in Europe. They were poor, ilHterate, and had 
great difficulty to make a livelihood. 

551. Feeling of the Sections. The last word descriptive 
of the country as it was about 1850 should deal with the feel- 
ing of the sections toward each other. In general, it was 
bitter. Unfortunately there was little intercourse between 
North and South, and neither section knew nor understood 
the other. This ill-will of the sections was aggravated by 
the violent propaganda of the abolitionists.^ Furthermore, the 
abolitionists maintained what was known as the " under- 
ground railroad " — a secret system for aiding slaves to es- 
cape from their masters, cross the free states, and take refuge 
in Canada. Three thousand people are known to have taken 
part in it. Some of its agents were men of great coolness and 
daring who secretly went about in the South, and persuaded 
slaves to run away.^ More than 60,000 slaves are said to 
have been spirited away to Canada, 

The final evidence of the separation of the sections was 

1 "In 1790 approximately . . . one-third of the white population of all the 
Southern states were members of slaveholding families. In 1850 the decline 
in the proportion of such persons was apparent in every geographic division. 
In the Southern states as a whole, there was a decrease from 36.6 to 32.1. Some 
of the states of the lower South, however, showed an increase. . . . the move- 
ment of slaves was steadily toward the lower South and Southwest, where the 
proportion in the entire population . . . was becoming very large. . . . The 
proportion of those who either owned slaves or were in some manner identified 
with slaveholding was slowly but steadily declining." "A Century of Popu- 
lation Growth in the United States " (U. S. Census Bulletin), 139. 

2 These indomitable fanatics remind us of the covenanters of Scotland. The 
character of Balfour of Burley in "Old Mortality" is, perhaps, our best clue to 
their state of mind. 

^ John Fairfield, the most noted character of this sort, is said to have aided 
several thousand slaves to escape. He is described by Levi Coffin, an aboli- 
tionist, as a "wicked man, daring and reckless in his actions, yet faithful to the 
trust reposed in him. . , ." "Reminiscences," 432. 



388 AMERICAN HISTORY 

revealed by the religious organizations. Many men felt that 
they could no longer remain in a church that should include 
both Northerners and Southerners. Two great churches, 
however, resisted the tendency to divide into northern and 
southern branches; the Church of Rome and the Episcopal 
Church did not so divide. On the other hand, the Baptists, 
Methodists, and Presbyterians divided. This is perhaps the 
best evidence that Northerners and Southerners had come to 
feel toward each other, speaking broadly, almost as members 
of ditlerent countries. 

Selections from the Sources. The compact collections of source 
material do not as a rule venture far from the beaten track of political 
and constitutional debate ; consequently, for the authorities upon gen- 
eral social conditions, the young student can hardly undertake to seek. 
They are found in memoirs, in collections of letters, and in publications 
too special to be always accessible. Important exceptions are : Com- 
pendium of the Seventh Census ; A Century of Population Growth (bulletin 
of the census bureau) ; Callender, Readings in the Economic History 
of the United States, 738-793; Hart, Contemporaries, IV, Nos. 22-23. 

Secondary Accounts. Rhodes, United States, III, 1-56 ; Schouler, 
United States, V, chaps, xx, xxi; McMaster, United States, VII; 
Burgess, Middle Period, chap, xviii ; Smith, Parties and Slavery, chaps, 
i-vi ; Latane, Diplomatic Relations of the United States and Spanish 
America, 176-195; Johnson, Four Centuries of the Panama Canal, 
51-77 ; A. T. Hadley, Railroad Transportation, its History and its Laws, 
chaps, i, ii; Coilan, Industrial History, 232-278 and The Economic 
Beginnings of the Far West, II, 167-331; Bogart, Economic History, 
206-215, 222-226, 238-249; Dewey, Financial History, 248-274; 
Wright, Industrial Evolution of the United States, 133-142 ; Edward 
Ingle, Southern Sidelights, 55-60, 88-94; Brown, The Lower South in 
American History, 32-49; Siebert, The Utidergroutul Railway, 18-76. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. Perry in Japan. 2. Development of 
American Railroads. 3. The Public Lands. 4. American Inventions 
5. The Growth of Free Schools. 6. Beginnings of the Woman's Rights 
Movement. 7. The Social Revolution. 8. The Underground Railway. 



CHAPTER XXV 
"A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF" 

552. Fugitive Slaves. The compromise of 1850 in reality 
settled nothing. Trouble between the sections broke out 
again directly, the immediate subject of debate being the new- 
Fugitive Slave Law. Under this law persons of color in the 
North, if accused of being runaway slaves, could be seized by 
United States marshals and carried off into slavery. They 
were not allowed jury trial, nor were they permitted to testify 
in their own behalf. Arrests under the new law began at once. 
At Boston a negro named Shadrach, an undoubted runaway, 
was arrested early in 1851, but was rescued by a mob and 
conveyed to Canada. The same year a slave owner named 
Gorsuch was killed while attempting to recover runaway 
slaves at Christiana, Pennsylvania. These cases were the 
first of a long series of tumults which roused to fury both 
slaveholders and abolitionists. They led to what were known 
as " personal liberty laws." These were state enactments de- 
signed to block the execution of the Fugitive Slave Law by 
securing to the accused negroes jury trials. Such enactments 
were made by all the Northern states except two. They 
amounted to a rejection of the compromise of 1850. 

553. " Uncle Tom's Cabin." Another consequence of the 
Fugitive Slave Law was the famous novel " Uncle Tom's 
Cabin." Its author, Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, a New 
Englander, was living in Cincinnati in 185 1. Events con- 
nected with the new law stirred Mrs. Stowe to write a popular 
story that should put the case against slavery in its blackest 
terms. The book appeared in 1852. In the words of Pro- 
fessor McMaster, " It is a picture of what slavery might be 

389 



390 AMERICAN HISTORY 

rather than what it was." However, the North and the world 
generally accepted " Uncle Tom's Cabin " as a literal state- 
ment of fact ; not as " a product of the sympathetic imagina- 
tion." ^ The effect of the story was tremendous. Three hun- 
dred thousand copies were sold in a single year. It played a 
great part in reviving that antislavery tempest which had 
lulled in 1850. Thereafter, the opposition to slavery became 
a relentless crusade. 

654. A Dual Empire. If the compromisers of 1850 really 
wanted to maintain the Union as a sort of dual empire, " half 
slave, half free," they should have made the two sections 
equal in extent and resources. Instead they had uninten- 
tionally given the North the larger share. Soon it became 
apparent that much of the region opened to slavery was not 
the sort of soil where slave labor could be used to advantage. 
This fact, together with renewed sectional bitterness aroused 
by the personal hberty laws, led Southern leaders to look for 
some new region to add to the South. 

555. The Ostend Manifesto. They fixed their eyes upon 
Cuba. The next President, Franklin Pierce of New Hamp- 
shire, a Democrat,^ intimated in his inaugural address that 
he wished to annex the island, and in the following year it 
seemed, for a time, that he would succeed in doing so. An 
American ship, the Elack Warrior, having been seized by the 
customs authorities at Havana, the President — or more 
truly, his able secretary of war, Jefferson Davis — threatened 
war. It was while negotiations with Spain were in progress, 
that three American ambassadors, all Democrats, met at 

1 Woodrow Wilson, "Division and Reunion," 181. 

^ In Ihc election of 1852 both Whigs and Democrats refused to mention 
slavery in their platforms. They insisted that the compromise was a " finality " 
and that the abolitionists were making a fuss about nothing. There were three 
parties in the field; the regular Democrats, who were united in defense of 
slavery; the Whigs, who were divided among themselves, some for, some 
against, slavery; and the Free-Soilers, now called the Free Democracy, 
who were united opponents of slavery. Under these conditions the regular 
Democrats easily won, though their candidate was little known and of slight 
ability. 



"A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF" 



391 



Ostend in Belgium to discuss the situation.^ They drew up a 
statement of policy, urging the purchase of Cuba, if possible 
— its conquest, if necessary. Their communication on the 
subject is known as the " Ostend Manifesto." However, 
Spain made reparation for the seizure of the Black Warrior, 
and the excuse for war was lost. 




Free 
Slave 



OUR WESTERN TERRITORIES, 1854 

556. Kansas and Nebraska. Meanwhile, another plan for 
extending the area of slavery had drawn all eyes away from 
Cuba and fixed them again upon the West. It was devised 
by Stephen A. Douglas, senator from Illinois, who proposed 
to organize the two territories of Kansas and Nebraska and 
open them to both slaveholders and non-slaveholders. Sub- 
sequently, the people of each territory were to decide for 



1 James Buchanan, minister to England, James M. Mason, minister to 
France, and Pierre Soule, minister to Spain, 



392 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



themselves whether they wished to form a free state or a slave 
state. Since both of the proposed territories lay north of the 
Hne of the Missouri Compromise, Douglas boldly proposed 
to repeal the compromise. This plan of opening the terri- 
tories to slavery, regardless of the old line of division between 
North and South, and leaving each locaHty to decide the 
matter for itself, was termed " popular sovereignty " or 
" squatter sovereignty." 

At first the slaveholders failed to see the full significance of 
the plan. But the antislavery men saw what would come of 

it. Any region that permitted 
slave labor would inevitably be 
avoided by free labor, since the 
latter would refuse to compete with 
the cheaper labor of slaves. The 
real issue of the moment was upon 
the question : what industrial sys- 
tem shall dominate the North- 
west ? To meet this issue a group 
of " independent Democrats " in 
Congress drew up an "appeal" to 
the American people denouncing 
the Kansas-Nebraska plan as "an 
atrocious plot to exclude from a 
vast unoccupied region immigrants 
from the Old World and free laborers from our own states." 

The most energetic slaveholding leaders now took the plan 
up and gave it hearty support. Such were Jefferson Davis, 
Alexander H. Stephens, and Robert Toombs. The bill was 
passed and President Pierce signed it, May 30, 1854. Seward, 
in the course of the debate, had used these threatening words, 
" Come on then, gentlemen of slave states, since there is no 
escaping your challenge, I accept it in behalf of the cause 
of freedom. We will engage in competition for the soil of 
Kansas and God give the victory to the side which is 
stronger. ..." 




STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS 



"A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF" 393 

557. The Rush to Kansas. The passage of the Kansas- 
Nebraska Bill marked a new stage in the slavery question. 
Now went up the cry, " Slavery is invading free soil." Many 
Northerners who had hitherto been indifferent now became 
eager opponents of the slaveholders, and associations were 
formed to send antislavery settlers to Kansas. In opposition, 
slaveholders, especially in Missouri, made haste to fill Kansas 
with their partisans. Towns, inhabited altogether by people 
of one faction or the other, quickly sprang up. The chief 




CIVIL WAR IN KANSAS, 1855-1857 



free-state town was Lawrence ; the chief slave-state town, 
Lecompton. Around each gathered an armed population. 

558. The War in Kansas. All these men went to Kansas 
with their rifles in their hands. There was violence, blood- 
shed, and dishonest voting. At first the slaveholders seemed 
the stronger party and the earUest elections in Kansas were 
favorable to their interests. Thereupon the Free-Soilers, de- 
claring that the slaveholders had been aided by thousands of 
illegal voters from Missouri, met at Topeka and framed a 
constitution prohibiting slavery. Practically, there were two 
governments in Kansas. So fierce and unrestrained was their 
enmity that civil war soon broke out. It is known as the 



394 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



Wakarusa War and consisted of guerrilla fights made especially 
shocking by the lack of mercy shown on both sides. In May, 
1856, the free-state town of Lawrence was taken and sacked 
by the slaveholders. By way of reprisal the sternest of the 
free-state leaders, John Brown, took a number of slaveholders 
and put them to death in cold blood. President Pierce now 
interfered, and a free-state legislature which tried to assemble 
under the Topeka constitution was broken up by United States 
soldiers. For a brief time the slaveholders controlled the 
situation and Kansas had peace. ^ 

559. The Republican Party. These dreadful events con- 
soUdated a new political party. The Kansas-Nebraska Bill 
had caused a secession from the Democratic party, and the 
seceders, together with the Free Soil party, the antislavery 
Whigs, and the abohtionists, all drew together on this latest 
issue of resisting the opening of the territories to slavery. 
Much as they differed on other points, they could agree on this. 
Presently, the coahtion began to act as one party and was 
named " Republican." The name appears to have been first 
used at Ripon, in Wisconsin, in 1854. The first RepubHcan 
convention was held that same year at Jackson, Michigan. 
State RepubHcan conventions were held in Wisconsin, In- 
diana, Ohio, and Vermont. In 1856 was held the first Repub- 
Hcan national convention. A platform was adopted condemn- 
ing unconditionally the extension of slavery in the territories. 
John C. Fremont, the Pathfinder (section 517), was nominated 
for President. 

560. Election of Buchanan. The formation of the Repub- 
lican party was the deathblow of the Whigs. Though a few 

1 The bitterness of feeling engendered over Kansas was further demon- 
strated by an encounter between Charles Sumner, senator from Massachusetts, 
and Preston Brooks, a representative from South Carolina (1856). In a speech 
entitled "The Crime against Kansas," Sumner criticized Senator Butler of 
South Carolina in language that was coarse and violent. Brooks, a kinsman of 
Butler, assaulted Sumner in the Senate chamber and beat him insensible. 
Brooks was censured by the House, resigned his seat, and was reelected by his 
constituents. 



"A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF ' 395 

Whigs still stuck to their colors, nominating Fillmore for 
President, this was the last time their party figured in a 
national election. Fillmore carried but one state, Maryland.^ 
The Democrats were more fortunate. Their candidate, 
James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, carried every Southern state, 
together with Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Indiana, IlHnois, 
and California. The Republicans carried eleven states — 
all New England, New York, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, 
Iowa — and cast 114 electoral votes, against 174 for Buchanan 
and only 8 for Fillmore. 

561. The Dred Scott Decision. In his inaugural address 
Buchanan alluded to a case then before the Supreme Court. 
This was the famous case of Dred Scott, a negro, who claimed 
his freedom because his master had taken him into a free 
territory, previous to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. 
The decision of the Court, rendered March 6, 1857, was 
another startling event in this long succession of starthng 
events that were rapidly bringing the country to a danger 
point. The case was highly complicated ; the judges did not 
agree, and the decision dealt with various points of law. 
However, Scott was refused his freedom, and one of the prin- 
ciples laid down in the decision at once became a burning 
question in politics. Hitherto it had been generally admitted 
that Congress could legislate upon slavery in the territories as 
it saw fit. In repealing the Missouri Compromise, Congress 
had not questioned the authority of the law so long as it stood 
unrepealed. The Supreme Court now declared that the law 
had been unconstitutional from the beginning. The Court 
laid down the principle that as slaves were property, any 
citizen owning such property could take it where he chose in 
the national domain, — namely, the territories, — and neither 

1 He was also nominated by the "American party." It had sprung into ex- 
istence two years previously as a protest against the increase of foreigners in the 
country. The backbone of it was a numerous secret society, which required 
its members to deny any knowledge of its existence. Hence they were nick- 
named "Know Nothings." The American party broke into factions and 
quickly disappeared. 



396 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Congress nor any government created by Congress could 
prevent his doing so. It followed, therefore, that Congress 
was bound to protect any slaveholder who might take his 
slaves into a territory, whether the people of the territory 
approved or not. 

According to this decision the Republican platform was a 
defiance of law. The friends of slavery pointed this out 
exultantly. The Republicans replied that the Dred Scott 
decision was inspired by party spirit and declared they would 
not abide by it. Seward made the bold statement, " We shall 
reorganize the Court and thus reform its political sentiments." 

562. " The Impending Crisis." By strange coincidence, this 
year, 1857, saw the publication of a book that is next in im- 
portance to " Uncle Tom's Cabin " as an antislavery tract. 
This was " The Impending Crisis," by H. R. Helper of North 
Carolina, a " poor white," whose purpose was to show that 
slavery, indirectly, was the curse of his class; that it made 
possible a social system in which the southern white man who 
held no slaves was at a cruel disadvantage. The book was 
reprinted by the Republicans as a campaign document. 

563. The Lecompton Scheme. Meanwhile, the struggle 
over Kansas had continued. In November, 1857, a slave- 
holding convention at Lecompton drew up a new constitution 
establishing slavery, and submitted it to the people.^ The 
free-state men refused to take part in the election, and this 
constitution was ratified by a vote of 6063 to 576. 

By this time, however, the Free-Soilers were distinctly the 
more numerous party. Many circumstances had assisted 
them to become so. Not the least of these was an especially 
severe winter that made the slaves, accustomed to milder 
climates, of httle use, and disheartened their owners. At 
length, the free-state men got control of the regular ter- 

• The voting was arranged so that slaves already in the territory would not 
be excluded whichever way the election turned. Every one was asked to vote 
for "Constitution with slavery" — that is, with an article expressly establishing 
slavery — or for "Constitution with no slavery." 



"A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF" 397 

ritorial legislature. They at once ordered another vote on 
the Lecompton constitution. This time the slaveholders 
appear to have abstained from voting. There were over 
10,000 votes against the constitution and less than 200 for it. 

Nevertheless, President Buchanan tried to have Kansas 
brought into the Union with the Lecompton constitution 
in force, but he had not reckoned with Douglas, who steadily 
refused to give up the principle of popular sovereignty. He 
took the lead in fighting a bill which would have carried out 
the President's wishes. He held that the majority in Kansas 
were opposed to this constitution, and therefore it ought not 
to be forced upon them. Finally, a compromise was made 
and the people of Kansas were offered a vast grant of public 
land, if they would accept the Lecompton constitution. On 
a final vote they refused. With a territorial government 
controlled by a Free-Soil majority, Kansas waited quietly 
during the next few years, until in 1861 the Repubhcans were 
strong enough to bring it in as a free state. 

564. Lincoln and Douglas Debate. Once more the Demo- 
cratic party showed signs of division. Though the greater 
portion of it sided with the Supreme Court, holding that no- 
body had power to shut slavery out of a territory, a portion 
of it drew back and stood fast by the idea of popular sover- 
eignty (section 556). The split in the party was revealed, 
in 1858, when Douglas became a candidate for reelection as 
senator from Illinois. He was opposed by Abraham Lincoln, 
who, in accepting the RepubKcan nomination for the Senate, 
used the famous words that stand at the head of this chapter! 
He said : " A house divided against itself cannot stand. I 
believe this government cannot endure permanently half 
slave and half free." 

He was then forty-nine years old, a tall, homely, loose-knit 
man, with little formal education. His parents belonged to 
that same class of poor whites from which came the author 
of " The Impending Crisis." Born in Kentucky, he was taken 
as a child to Illinois, where most of his life had been spent. 



398 AMERICAN HISTORY 

He had served one term in Congress. Though without any 
hatred of slaveholders, he was an ardent Free-Soiler, as well 
as a firm nationahst, and hoped to hve to see slavery disappear. 
He spoke of slavery as " a thing which has, and continually 
exercises, the power of making me miserable." 

Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of pubHc debates, 
and in the course of them, at the town of Freeport, Lincoln 
made a square issue on the Dred Scott decision. He asked 
Douglas, " Can the people of a United States territory in any 
legal way, against the will of any citizen of the United States, 
exclude slavery from its limits prior to the formation of a state 
constitution? " Douglas was compelled by his own prin- 
ciples to answer that they could. He then tried to reconcile 
his answer with the Dred Scott decision. His argument — 
shown by Lincoln to be unconvincing — was known after- 
wards as the " Freeport Doctrine." 

Douglas had saved himself with the Democrats of Illinois, 
and was reelected senator, but he had split his party in two. 
From that time forward, the President and his advisers would 
have nothing to do with him. They rejected popular sover- 
eignty and made acceptance of the Dred Scott decision a 
test whether a man was a regular Democrat or not.^ 

565. The Approach of the Crisis. About this time, two 
new states were admitted to the Union — Minnesota in 1858, 
Oregon in 1859; both were free states. The North now had 
36 votes in the Senate while the South had only 32. In the 
House, the representation of the Northern states numbered 
147 ; that of the Southern states 90. Thus it was plain that 
one section, if it could ever be brought to act as a unit, might 
legislate as it pleased to the injury of the other. At present, 
for two reasons, there was still no immediate danger that 
such would be the case. A large part of the people of the 
North were still states' rights men, who would stand with 

* " Never in the history of American party warfare has any leader been more 
bitterly attacked by the head of his own house." Professor William E. Dodd, 
"The Fight for the Northwest," American Historical Review, XVI, 778. 



"A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF" 



399 



Southern states' rights men at a crisis. Also, the Democrats 
controlled the executive. The President's veto could be 
relied upon to defeat legislation designed to injure the South. 
So long as the President continued to be a Democrat, the 
South was safe. But if a Republican became President, there 
was no telHng what hostile legislation the South might have 
to face. Naturally the year 1859 was a moment of intense 
excitement when events were moving fast, and all men dreaded 
what the day might bring forth. Two powers were contend- 
ing for the mastery of the Union. 
' ' The power which obviously grew , ' ' 
says Woodrow Wilson, " was the 
power of the North ; the power 
which obviously waned and was 
threatened with extinction was the 
power of the South." 

566. John Brown. Suddenly, in 
the midst of this tense sectional 
feeling, something happened that 
was like a clap of thunder. On 
October 16, 1859, a band of twenty- 
three men descended from the 
mountains near Harper's Ferry, 
seized the United States arsenal 
there, and issued a call to the slaves of the surrounding coun- 
try to rise in rebellion against their masters. 

The leader of the band was that terrible John Brown who 
had been the sternest figure of the Wakarusa War (section 
558). From friends in the North, Brown had lately obtained 
funds to be used in a secret undertaking, the nature of which 
he probably did not divulge. He had then proceeded to west- 
ern Maryland ; he rented a mountain farm and gathered 
about him his httle band of enthusiasts, all as reckless as 
himself. Their intention was to organize an insurrection on a 
great scale which should compel the immediate aboUtion of 
slavery. 




JOHN BROWN 



400 AMERICAN HISTORY 

But this desperate scheme was swiftly brought to nought. 
The negroes did not rise, and instead there was a rising of the 
whites. United States soldiers led by Colonel Robert E. 
Lee hastened to their assistance. Brown, in an engine house 
which he had fortified, was surrounded and taken prisoner, 
though not until half his men were slain, together with a 
number of his assailants, and himself severely wounded. 

Charged with murder and treason. Brown was given an 
open trial in a Virginia court and condemned to die. He was 
hanged, December 2, 1859. 

Selections from the Sources. Johnson, Readings, 411-453; Mac- 
DONALD, Source Book, Nos. 108-114; Documents, Nos. 77-92; Hill, 
Liberty Documents, chap, xxi ; Johnston, American Orations, III, 3-207 ; 
Hart, Contemporaries, IV, Nos. 30-48; Richardson, Messages and 
Papers of the Presidents, V, 352-360, 390-391, 401-407, 449-454, 471-481. 

Secondary Accounts. Rhodes, United States, 1, 207-506; II, 1-416; 
ScHOULER, United States, V, 270-454; Von Holst, History, IV, 9-12, 
20-28, 236-246; V, 61-70; Phillips in The South in the Building of 
the Nation, IV, 398-422; Davis, Confederate Government, I, 26-31; 
Wilson, Division and Reunion, 90-100; Johnston, Politics, 167-189; 
Stanwood, Presidency, 226-278; Smith, Slavery and Political Parties; 
Macy, Political Parlies, 183-282 ; Smith, Liberty and Free Soil Parties, 
261-307 ; Curtis, Constitutional History, II, 259-285, 295-299; Spring, 
Kansas; Brown, Lower South, 50-82, and Douglas, 82-128; Dewey, 
Financial History, sees. 110-115; Taussig, Tariff History, 11 5-1 54; 
Hart, Foundations of American Foreign Policy, 108-127; Foster, 
Century of Diplomacy, 335-356; Latane, United States and Spanish 
America, 1 16-136, 194-198, and The Diplomacy of the United States in 
Regard to Cuba (American Historical Association Report, 1897), 217- 
277; Morse, Abraham Lincoln, I, 93-160; Bancroft, Seward, I, :i;i:i- 
519; Hart, CAo^e, 132-177; Stored, Charles Sumner, 101-164; Dodd, 
Jefferson Davis, 130-188; Wise, Henry A. Wise, chap, xiv; Chamberlin, 
John Brown. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. Personal Liberty Laws. 2. The Black 
Warrior Episode. 3. Popular Sovereignty. 4. The Wakarusa War. 
5. Formation of the Republican Party. 6. The Drcd Scott Decision. 
7. Lincoln. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

THE CRISIS OF 1860 

567. 1860. It is almost impossible to-day to realize the 
state of the country in the year i860. The bad feeling be- 
tween the sections, which had been increasing so steadily 
since 1830, all came to a head, and burst into fury, over the 
episode of John Brown'. Though most of the Northern 
people at once condemned his undertaking, the abolitionists 
pronounced him a martyr. They redoubled the fierceness of 
their abuse of the South. 

The South, on the other hand, was swept by a vehement 
anti-Northern feeling that united all classes and all political 
groups in a general storm of protest against the influence of 
the North in national politics. Men of the most diverse 
views eagerly joined forces upon this one point and assured 
each other of their resolution not to stay in the Union if 
the entire government — • House, Senate, Presidency — should 
fall into the hands of Northerners. 

568. The Republican Platform. In May the Republicans 
held their national convention at Chicago. The platform 
adopted was frankly nationahstic. However, it admitted the 
right of each state to " control its own domestic institutions " 
— that is, legislate as it pleased on slavery — but demanded 
the complete expulsion of slavery from all the territories. It 
took another step which put the party in a new light. The 
great state of Pennsylvania, which had gone for Buchanan in 
1856, was now demanding a return to high tariff. It was 
largely to capture the vote of Pennsylvania that the con- 
vention declared in favor of a tariff. To make sure of the 
remnant of the Whigs, it also declared for internal improve- 

401 



402 AMERICAN HISTORY 

ments. Except for the antislavery provisions, the platform 
might have been the work of the Whig nationahsts of a gen- 
eration before. One might almost say that the spirit of Clay 
had risen from his grave. Thus the slavery question became 
entangled with that older and even more disturbing question, 
the power of a majority of the states to impose its will on the 
minority through commercial legislation. Lincoln was nom- 
inated for President. 

569. The Democratic Split. Meanwhile the Democratic 
party had spht. The national convention held at Charleston 
broke up without making nominations, and in June two 
Democratic conventions met at Baltimore. One nominated 
Douglas with popular sovereignty as the basis of its platform. 
The other nominated John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky, and 
based its platform on the Dred Scott decision. 

570. The Fourth Party. But even these three parties 
were not enough to hold everybody. Many men, especially 
in the South and West, were unwilling to endorse the national- 
istic and protectionist platform of the Republicans, and yet 
would not accept either of the Democratic platforms. They 
took the name " Constitutional Union party," held a con- 
vention, and adopted a vague platform declaring that their 
only principles were : " the Constitution of the country, the 
Union of the States, and the enforcement of the laws." They 
nominated John Bell of Tennessee and Edward Everett of 
Massachusetts. 

571. Election of 1860. The election was the fiercest 
popular contest in our history. The vehemence and bitter- 
ness of the feeling displayed could hardly be overstated. In 
November Lincoln carried every Northern and Western state 
except New Jersey, whose electoral vote was divided, but not 
one Southern state. He received i8o electoral votes out of 
303; Breckenridge, 72 ; Bell, 39 ; Douglas, 12. The majority 
of the popular vote, however, was against him. Though he 
received some 1,900,000 votes, the total of the votes for the 
three other candidates was 2,800,000. 



THE CRISIS OF i860 



403 



572. The Southern Vote. The most significant detail of 
the election was the vote in the South. Practically no votes 
were cast for Lincoln. Though Breckenridge carried most of 
the Southern states, there was a large vote for each of the 
remaining candidates. This meant that Southerners were 
still divided among themselves as to what they wanted, but 
were almost a unit as to what they did not want. They did 
not want a Republican President and they dreaded what 
might follow his accession to power. 




t \ For Lincoln 
II Against Lincoln 



ELECTION OF i86o 



573. Secession. Few, if any, other Southern states were 
as bitter over the election as was South Carolina, that old- 
time stronghold of opposition to nationalism, which cherished 
proudly the memory of its successful defiance of the central 
government in 1832. On the day following the election, 
South Carolina called a convention to consider withdrawing 
from the Union. The convention met at Columbia and ad- 
journed to Charleston. The events of 1832 were now repeated 
on a larger scale. Military companies were formed ; federal 
buildings were seized; federal ofiQcers, including the two 



404 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



CIARIK1«N 

MERCURY 



EXTRA: 



senators, resigned ; commissioners were sent to other states 
to confer upon secession. Finally, the convention by unan- 
imous vote, on December 20, i860, passed an Ordinance of 
Secession, declaring!: that the union between South Carolina and 

the other states was ''hereby 
dissolved." 

574. The Final Issue. If the 
spirit of Clay seemed to have 
risen from the grave to domi- 
nate the Chicago convention, 
similarly we may say that the 
spirit of Calhoun dominated 
the convention at Charleston. 
Around these two mighty resur- 
rections gathered powers im- 
measurably greater than those 
which obeyed the living men 
during their terms on earth. 
Antagonisms which had been 
growing gradually during nearly 
a hundred years — which clashed 
in that other convention in 1787 
— and had drawn into their 
vehement currents numerous in- 
cidental issues, were now, at 
last, to receive final settlement. 
Nationahsm, challenged for the 
second time by South Carolina, 
was in a position where compromise was impossible. The 
one question was now: what would the nationahsts do? 
Would they surrender their principle, allow the Union to be 
dissolved, or would they appeal to that dreadful court of last 
resort, the field of battle? Would they verify Webster's 
prophecy, " There can be no such thing as peaceable seces- 
sion. . . ." ? 



AJ« ORDLfAJVCE 
•<JUr malts mtUfd wUh ktr m»4t^ tks r^mpnH mtUtt^ *• ZIU 

TkM U« CMa>Ma kdvpM »} •• to CotnUlot, ot lk« M*aii4Urt 44/ of Xar. h Ik* 

OIlM SuiM 0/ AiM r« *u aULt^ Md d*^ all Act* m^ pwo tH M* «f ita OvMnfr 

MJi^jUulMiMrahiUiiacMw* baa bnllMMd otto 8taM& mJm ih*taB««/ 
•IWOuutf 8UM«IAavt«*it'M*bidl«ot*«d. 



UNION 

DISSOLVED! 



REDUCED FACSIMILE OF THE 
ORDINANCE OF SECESSION 



THE CRISIS OF i860 405 

Selections from the Sources. Johnson, Readings, 446-453 ; Hart, 
Contemporaries, IV, Nos. 49-52, 58-60; Macdonald, Source Book, No. 
115; Documents, No. 94; Richardson, Messages and Papers of the 
Presidents, V, 433, 434, 437-460, 487, 493-495, 503-S06, 527-529, 555-558, 
593-596, 608-625, 648. 

Secondary Accounts. Stanwood, Presidency, chap, xxi ; Fite, Presi- 
dential Election of i860; Wilson, American People, IV, 174-189; 
Pollard, Lost Cause, chap, iv ; Nicolay and Hay, Lincoln, II, chaps, 
x-xvi ; Morse, Lincoln, I, chap, vi; Greeley, American Conflict, 

I, chap, xxi ; Dodd, Jefferson Davis, 163-191 ; Rhodes, United States, 

II, chaps. X, xi. 

Topics for Special Reports. 1. Revival of the Tariff Issue. 2. The 
Democratic Conventions. 3. Secession of South CaroHna, 



CHAPTER XXVII 

THE WAR 
I. THE DISSOLUTION OF THE UNION 

575. Buchanan's Waverings. President Buchanan was at 
a loss to know how to deal with secession. He believed it 
wrong, but he thought the Constitution gave him no authority 
to prevent it. Because of his unwillingness to play the part 
of a second Jackson and try to stop secession by force, his 
secretary of state, Lewis Cass, resigned. At the same time 
the secretary of war, John B. Floyd, took sides with the 
secessionists. South CaroUna was demanding the surrender 

of Fort Sumter, in 



Charleston harbor, 
then garrisoned by 
Federal troops, and 
the secretary of war 
held that this de- 
mand should be 
granted. The Pres- 
ident wavered. His 
course was finally 
determined very 
largely through the 
influence gained 
over him by a new 
member of his cabi- 
net, Edwin M. Stanton. Under Stanton's lead he refused to 
accept the advice of Floyd, who thereupon resigned. Thence- 
forth the Northern faction in the cabinet controlled the 
President. 

406 




CHARLESTON HARBOR 



THE WAR ' 407 

676. Schemes of Compromise. However, Buchanan was 
not alone in his shrinking from an appeal to force. As soon 
as it became plain that the secessionists were in earnest, 
desperate attempts were made to patch things up once more 
by a compromise, and both the Senate and the House 
appointed committees for that purpose. Many compromise 
schemes were debated. The most famous was the so-called 
" Crittenden Compromise," submitted by Senator John T. 
Crittenden of Kentucky, who proposed to extend the line of 
the Missouri Compromise westward to California, to have 
the " personal liberty laws " declared unconstitutional, and 
in case of rescue of fugitive slaves after they had been ar- 
rested, to have Congress reimburse the owner. However, the 
time for compromise had unfortunately gone by and eventually 
Crittenden's plan, together with a number of others, was cast 
aside. 

577. Secession. While Congress debated the possibility 
of a compromise, a merchant steamer, the Star of the West, 
had been sent to Charleston harbor with supplies for Fort 
Sumter. It was fired upon by the state militia and com- 
pelled to retire. This incident greatly increased the tension 
between the sections, but even before it occurred a num- 
ber of Southern senators and representatives at Washington 
had drawn up an address ^ " To our Constituents," advising 
all the Southern states to withdraw from the Union and unite 
with South Carolina in a Southern confederacy. A few days 
after the retreat of the Star of the West, conventions in a 
number of Southern states were hotly debating the question 
of secession.^ So, at the same time, two debates raged — 
one in Congress at Washington on compromise ; another in 
the state conventions of the South on secession. 



^ December 14, i860. Their action was reaffirmed by a second caucus, 
January 5, 1861. 

2 In many cases there was strong opposition. Alexander H. Stephens, after- 
ward vice president of the Confederacy, led the opposition in Georgia. In 
Texas, Governor Houston was the chief opponent of secession. 



4o8 ' AMERICAN fflSTORY 

Several Southern states, one after another, seceded. By 
February i, 1861, six states had formally declared 
their connection with the Union at an end. Besides South 
Carolina these included Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, 
Georgia, Louisiana. Furthermore, as these states seceded, 
their senators and representatives at Washington resigned,^ 
while the states chose delegates to a general convention to 
meet at Montgomery, Alabama, for the purpose of forming a 
Southern confederacy, which Texas also was preparing to join.- 

578. The Peace Congress. At this desperate moment, 
when the Union seemed to be already divided, the state of 
Virginia made a last attempt to save it. Most Virginians 
were eager supporters of the Union, but they felt they be- 
longed to it as partners in a firm, so to speak, with full right 
to withdraw if they chose. They felt that their Southern 
neighbors were acting unwisely, but not wrongfully. If the 
North attempted to use force against them, Virginians gener- 
ally felt that duty would compel them to side with the South. 
To prevent such an unhappy event Virginia called a '* peace 
congress," which met at Washington, February 4. Twenty 
states sent delegates. After long discussion a report was 
drawn up which was very similar to the Crittenden Com- 
promise. 

579. Formation of the Confederacy. Unfortunately, the 
peace congress was held too late. On the very day it assembled, 
the Confederate convention met at Montgomery. While the 
Congress at Washington was framing its compromise, the 
convention at Montgomery drew up a constitution,^ and pro- 

' The withdrawal of Southern members of Congress made possible the 
admission of Kansas under its free constitution (January 29, 1861). 

^ On February i the Texas convention passed an ordinance of secession, 
which was ratified by popular vote, February 23. 

' The Confederate constitution was planned to correct those features of the 
federal Constitution held by the Confederates to be defects. Except for changes 
of detail, such as lengthening the president's term to six years, the stril<ing pro- 
visions are its limitations of the power of the central government. Having in 
mind their sufferings under the tariff, the Southerners forbade their new con- 



THE WAR 409 

claimed the birth of a new nation, the Confederate States of 
America. Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was chosen provi- 
sional president/ and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, 
vice president. Montgomery was fLxed upon as the capital. 

580. Lincoln Inaugurated. Such was the situation March 
4, 1 86 1, when Lincoln was inaugurated President of the United 
States.^ Though an antislavery man, he held very different 
views from those of the strict abolitionists of the type of 
Garrison. He refused to consider slavery as a sin with which 
it was wrong to compromise. He refused to admit that the 
South alone was to blame for it. " We are all responsible for 
slavery," said he, meaning that the ancestors of the whole 
American people had consented to its estabhshment, and their 
descendants together should bear the cost of getting rid of it. 
Therefore, he felt not a trace of the vindictive anti-Southern 
spirit of the out-and-out abolitionist. Moreover, he was 
before all else a Unionist. His pohcy was clearly announced 
in his inaugural address. He said : "I have no purpose 



gress to levy any taxes or duties "to promote or foster any branch of industry." 
Because of the final results of Clay's policy of internal improvements, the Con- 
federate congress was forbidden "to appropriate money for any internal im- 
provements intended to facilitate commerce. . . ." The sovereign character 
of the states was expressly stated. 

* He appointed the following cabinet : secretary of state, Robert Toombs of 
Georgia ; secretary of the treasury, Charles G. Memminger, of South Carolina ; 
secretary of war, Leroy Walker, of Alabama; secretary of navy, Stephen R. 
Mallory,of Florida; attorney-general, Judah P. Benjamin, of Louisiana; post- 
master-general, John H. Reagan, of Texas. There were many changes in this 
cabinet during the next four years. Benjamin is generally thought of as secre- 
tary of state. He was transferred to that department March 18, 1862. Mem- 
minger was succeeded in the treasury by George A. Trenholm, also of South 
Carolina, July 18, 1864. 

2 Lincoln's cabinet was composed as follows : secretary of state, William H. 
Seward, of New York; secretary of treasury, S. P. Chase, of Ohio; secretary 
of war, Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania ; secretary of navy, Gideon Welles, of 
Connecticut; secretary of interior, Caleb P. Smith, of Indiana; attorney- 
general, Edward Bates of Missouri ; postmaster-general, Montgomery Blair, of 
Maryland. The only subsequent change of great importance was the appoint- 
ment of Edwin M. Stanton of Pennsylvania as secretary of war in place of 
Cameron, January 15, 1862. 



4IO 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of 
slavery in the states where it exists. . . . No state on its 
own mere motion can go out of the Union. . . . The Union 
is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability, I shall take 
care that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in 
all the states. The power confided in me will be used to 
hold, occupy and possess the property and places belonging 
to the government." 

581. Fort Sumter. Lincoln speedily gave notice to Gov- 
ernor Pickens of South Carolina that Fort Sumter should be 




FORT SUMTER, 1861 

freshly supplied and held by the United States.^ Pickens re- 
ferred the matter to President Davis, who decided upon an ag- 
gressive poHcy, though his secretary of state, Robert Toombs, 
sought in vain to persuade him not to strike the first blow. 
" At this time," said Toombs, " it is suicide, murder, and will 
lose us every friend at the North . . . it is fatal." He was 
not heeded, and orders were sent to General Beauregard at 
Charleston to compel the surrender of Fort Sumter. 

The fort, situated on an island in the harbor, was held by 
Major Robert Anderson with a small garrison. The land forts 

1 The Secretary of State, Seward, had told Confederate Commissioners 
that Sumter would not be relieved. Whether Lincoln was bound by Seward's 
promise has been bitterly disputed. See Davis, " Confederate Government," 
I, 263-295; Rhodes, "History," III, 325-351. 



THE WAR 411 

protecting the harbor had been occupied by the Confederates, 
and new batteries had been erected. Several thousand 
militia had been assembled. The first shot was fired at 
4,30 A.M., April 12, 1861, by Captain George S. James, from 
a cannon at Fort Johnson on the south side of the harbor. 
Thus began the great war of secession. This first event of it 
ended two days later in the hauling down of the flag of the 
United States from above Fort Sumter^ (April 14, 1861). 

582. The Rising of the North. Until the day Sumter was 
fired upon, it was still uncertain whether the North would 
stand by Lincoln if he went to war. Many Northerners were 
known to sympathize with the South. But a large portion of 
them, as Toombs had prophesied, changed their attitude 
the moment their flag was fired upon. A call for 75,000 volun- 
teers, issued by Lincoln the day after Sumter fell, was quickly 
answered by 100,000. The Northern militia in great numbers 
hurried to Washington. Only five days after the fall of 
Sumter, the sixth regiment of Massachusetts, on its way 
through Baltimore, was attacked by a mob ; there was firing 
and loss of life. Thus promptly general war began. 

583. The Rising of the South. The call for volunteers 
decided the course of four Southern states that hitherto had 
held back from seceding. Many of their citizens were opposed 
to secession as a matter of policy, but almost all held it to be 
a right which the North now threatened to take from them. 
Consequently, at whatever cost, they resolved to take sides 
with the seceders. Thus Arkansas, North Carolina, Virginia, 
and Tennessee were added to the Confederate States.^ 

President Davis issued a call for volunteers. The response 

^ Anderson was allowed to march out with the honors of war. With his 
soldiers he went aboard ship and sailed for New York. 

2 Upon the secession of Virginia the Confederate capital was changed from 
Montgomery to Richmond. The Montgomery convention had decreed that 
the provisional president should hold ofhce until a general election should decide 
upon a regular president. The election was held October 8, 1861. Davis and 
Stephens were retained in office. The inauguration of the first regular presi- 
dent of the Confederacy took place at Richmond, February 22, 1862. 






1860. Flag displayed in the Secession Conven- 
tion at Charleston. The design was based on 
the State flag of South Carolina. 




1861. This design, known as the "Stars and 
Bars," was adopted by the Montgomery Con- 
vention. 



1861. The armies adopted unofficially this flag, 
known as the "Southern Cross." The "Stars 
and Bars " had been mistaken in battle for the 
" Stars and Stripes." 



1863. Official flag of the Confederacy adopted 
in 1863. Subsequently a red stripe was added 
perpendicularly along the outer edge. This 
was done chiefly for use in the navy. When 
hanging idle from a mast the flag of 1863 
sometimes appeared all white. 



CONFEDERATE FLAGS 



THE WAR 413 

was instant and enthusiastic. A passion of war-feeling swept 
the land, North and South. On both sides the voices of 
temperate men, who foresaw how terrible the war would be, 
were drowned in the roll of drums and the furious shout, " To 
arms! " 

584. Lincoln's Desperate Situation. However, neither 
the government at Washington nor the government at Rich- 
mond was really in a position to make war successfully. 
Of the two, in the spring of 1861, the Washington government 
was perhaps the worse off. In the first place, it did not 
have behind it as large a proportion of its own people as did 
the government at Richmond. Just how strong it was, it 
did not know. Then, too, so many Southern officers had 
resigned from the army that the whole service had to be 
reorganized. The Washington government had almost no 
funds, and, therefore, schemes for raising great sums of 
money had instantly to be devised. Above all it had enemies 
abroad. England and France both wished to see the American 
republic broken in two. In England, especially, the upper 
classes sympathized warmly with the South. It seemed 
probable that at the first excuse both France and England 
would come to the aid of the Confederacy. 

585. Federal War Program. But in spite of the great- 
ness of its task and the extremity of its danger, the Washington 
government did not falter. Congress was called in special 
session. A series of measures, passed at various times during 
the next twelve months, formed together a general program 
for sustaining the government at all cost. An act of Congress 
authorized the blockade of Southern ports ; another authorized 
a great loan ; another, the raising of an army of 500,000 men. 
Increased tariff duties were levied ; direct taxes were provided 
for ; paper money was issued ; and an income tax estabhshed. 
Congress also sought to stimulate business so as to have more 
wealth to tax. Protective duties were laid so as to encourage 
new manufactures to spring up. Public land was offered for 
almost nothing to any one who would settle on it and become 



414 AMERICAN HISTORY 

a farmer. A charter was granted to the Union Pacific Rail- 
road together with a huge grant of land. 

586. The Struggle for Missouri. But before all these 
measures could be enacted, battles were fought. The first 
thought on both sides was to get control of those border slave 
states that had not joined the Confederacy, and therefore 
one of the earliest incidents of the war was a sharp contest 
between unionists and secessionists in Missouri. The former 
appealed to Washington for aid ; the latter, to Richmond. 
During the month of May, 1861, it was an open question which 
side would get control of the state government. The energy 
of Captain Nathaniel Lyon turned the scale. A secessionist 
camp near St. Louis was broken up ; the governor, a seces- 
sionist, was driven from the state capitol ; and the unionists 
got control of the state government. Thereafter, St. Louis 
was a great base of supplies for the Federal forces.^ 

587. Maryland Rises. Maryland, just after the fighting 
in Baltimore with the sixth Massachusetts regiment (section 
582), witnessed a general outburst of secessionist sentiment. 
For a few days Washington was surrounded by Maryland 
secessionists and cut off from communication with the North. 
From this desperate situation the Washington government was 
delivered by the arrival of New York and Massachusetts 
mihtia. Other regiments quickly followed. Presently there 
were great numbers of Federal troops at Washington and the 
secession of Maryland was out of the question. 

588. West Virginia. Still more acute was the situation 
in western Virginia. The counties west of the mountains 
had opposed secession and refused to abide by the action of 
the state convention which had voted to secede. Early 
in May their representatives met at Wheeling as the first 



* The Germans of St. Louis were especially active in behalf of the federal 
government, and contributed greatly to keeping Missouri in the Union. How- 
ever, the Federal position there was not made entirely secure until llic defeat of 
the Confederates under General Van Dorn, by General Curtis, at Pea Ridge, 
or Elkhorn, Arkansas, the following spring. 



THE WAR 415 

step toward separating from Virginia. To suppress this 
rebellion against the state, President Davis sent a small Con- 
federate force across the mountains, and at the same time 
General George B. McClellan, who commanded the mihtia 
of Ohio, perceived the great importance to the Union of secur- 
ing West Virginia. He came to the assistance of the West 
Virginians, and in a short campaign cleared the region of 
Confederate forces. As a consequence, the state of West 
Virginia came into existence and subsequently joined the 
Union.^ McClellan's achievement was so magnified in popular 
fancy that he was talked of throughout the North as a great 
genius. 

589. The First Great Action. These clashes in the border 
states formed, as it were, the prologue to the drama. Three 
months passed before really considerable armies were brought 
together on both sides, and it was not until midsummer 
that the Washington government imagined itself strong enough 
to strike a blow in Virginia. At Manassas Junction, on the 
Httle stream known as Bull Run, there was an important 
Confederate force commanded by General Pierre G. T. Beaure- 
gard and General Joseph E. Johnston.^ They were attacked, 
July 21, by a Federal army composed chiefly of militia and 
commanded by General McDowell. A fierce engagement 
was turned in favor of the Confederates by the arrival of 
fresh troops, and ended in the total rout of the Federals. 

590. The Pause for Reorganization. This battle was fol- 
lowed by another pause during which both governments 
pushed forward their endeavors to put their forces on a genuine 
war footing. Each side was strong where the other was weak. 
While the North, for all its host of militia, still lacked a gen- 
uine army, the South lacked the means to equip one. The 
North now set to work in earnest to drill and train its men. 
The South set to work to build foundries and cast can- 

' It was not formally admitted until 1863. 

2 With them was General Thomas T. Jackson, called thereafter, because of 
the firmness of his conduct, "Stonewall." 



4i6 AMERICAN HISTORY 

non.^ And each side turned to Europe to see who was its 
friend there and who was its enemy. 

591. The Trent Affair. In this moment of pause, the war 
came near taking a new and bewildering turn. J. M. Mason 
had been named by President Davis as commissioner of the 
Confederacy to England, and John Shdell, commissioner to 
France. They had eluded the Federal warships that were 
watching Charleston, and made their way to Havana. Thence 
they sailed for Europe under the English flag on the steamer 
Trent. On November 8, 1861, the Trent was stopped and 
searched by a United States man-of-war. The Confederate 
commissioners were taken off and conveyed to Fort Warren, 
in Boston harbor. 

The Enghsh prime minister at once demanded their release. 
His note was practically a threat of war. Here was that old 
question, the right of search at sea, which brought on the War 
of 181 2. But, in this case, the Americans had violated their 
own principle. Lincoln promptly disavowed the act of the 
American man-of-war, and the commissioners were given up. 

Thus the year 1861 came to an end.^ Two powerful com- 
batants were straining every nerve to get in first-class condition 

1 President Davis sent agents to Europe to purchase arms, he also issued 
"letters of marque" to privateers, and sent out "commerce destroyers" to 
prey on the commerce of the United States. The most famous of these was the 
Alabama, commanded by Captain (afterward Admiral) Raphael Semnies. Alto- 
gether two hundred and sixty American merchant ships were captured on the 
high seas by the Confederates. They were valued at $2o,ooo,oco. So success- 
ful were the commerce destroyers that many United States ships were sold 
to foreigners so as to have the protection of a neutral flag. 

2 In Kentucky, meanwhile, the unionists had got control of the state govern- 
ment. No state came so near to being evenly divided. Two sons of Senator 
Crittenden became major-generals — one in the Federal army, the other in the 
Confederate. Being so deeply divided against itself, Kentucky attempted at 
first to stand neutral. In September, 1861, General Leonidas Polk, with a 
Confederate army, entered Kentucky, intending to occupy Paducah, an im- 
portant point on the Ohio River. General U. S. Grant also entered Kentucky, 
aiming at the same point. The legislature demanded the withdrawal of Polk, 
but refused to demand the withdrawal of Grant. Kentucky furnished great 
numbers of men to both armies, and Kentucky rejiresentativcs were admitted 
to tlie Congress of the Confederacy, as well as to the United States Congress. 



THE WAR 417 

for a tremendous duel ; though neither, as yet, fully realized 
what was before them, both reahzed it sufficiently to be 
terribly in earnest. 

II. THE COMBATANTS 

592. Strength of Numbers. In 1861 the fighting strength 
of each side was still an unknown quantity. The advantage 
of numbers was obviously with the North. The census of 
i860 showed the population of the whole United States to be 
3 1 ,443 ,3 2 1 . The states which subsequently seceded contained 
only 9,103,343. The four slave states which did not secede 
had a population of 3,100,000. The free states had over 
19,000,000. By the slave states which remained in the Union, 
— Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, — a great deal 
of assistance was given to the South. Many of their citizens 
joined the Southern armies. It is estimated that perhaps 
half a million should be added to the population of the Con- 
federacy in order to include the people along the border who 
actively aided it. On the other hand, eastern Tennessee and 
the mountain region of Virginia were strongly in favor of the 
Union. Probably the secessionists along the border were 
about balanced by the unionists south of the line. In reck- 
oning up the numerical strength, two things' must be con- 
sidered. On the one hand, the Southern population included 
3,500,000 slaves; on the other, the Northern people were far 
from being a unit on the subject of the war. Though un- 
doubtedly the vast majority supported Lincoln, it is certain 
that a strong minority opposed and hindered him. Still, 
when every allowance has been made, there can be little 
doubt that the white men in the Union who favored war out- 
numbered the white men in the Confederacy three to one. 

593. The Unity of the South. However, numbers alone 
are but a part of the military strength of a country. Organ- 
ization is almost if not quite as important. When the war 
began, the inferiority of the South in numbers was almost 
offset by the superiority it had in organization. This was due 



41 8 AMERICAN HISTORY 

to two things : the unity of its people in point of origin and 
the aristocratic character of their social system. 

The Southern people had not changed in blood since 1790. 
At that time, as we saw, all Americans were practically English 
in descent. In i860 this still was true of the South. Out 
of its five millions of people not one in fifteen was foreign-born. 
In the North, on the other hand, about one man in every five 
was a foreigner. Naturally it would be much easier for a 
unified population like that of the South to come to a gen- 
eral understanding of what it wanted, and act on that under- 
standing, than for a diverse population like that of the North. 

594. Southern Organization. Furthermore, the social sys- 
tem of the South was still aristocratic. A class of landed 
proprietors practically ruled the country. But their power 
had no basis except their own skill in making use of the social 
lead which their fathers had secured. Theoretically the poor- 
est white man in the South was the equal of the richest, and 
therefore the landed class, to retain its social and political 
eminence, had to keep the mass of the Southern people 
satisfied with its rule. It had to lead — it could not drive — 
its followers. Thus political necessity compelled the Southern 
aristocrat to combine in his character forcefulness with per- 
suasiveness. "He had to convince the mass of people that he 
would make an efficient leader ; he had also to get and keep 
their perfect confidence. In the effort to do this there was 
give and take between the classes, resulting in a tactful author- 
ity on the part of the aristocracy and a great trustfulness 
on the part of the common people.^ There had come to be a 
general conviction that all Southerners had the same interests 
and that the aristocracy could be trusted to say what those 
interests were. In short, the social system of the South was 
practically the same thing as the organization of an army. 
There was an aristocracy acting like a body of officers, and a 
mass of people acting like soldiers trustful of their generals. 

• There were exceptions to the rule. In parts of the South the f)oor whites 
were beginning to protest against the ruling class. (See section 562.) 



THE WAR 419 

A society thus organized is by far the best with which to 
begin war, far more effective than democracy, on the one 
hand, or old-style domineering aristocracy, on the other. 

595. Diversity of the North. In contrast with this military 
structure of Southern society, Northern society showed oppo- 
site characteristics. During fifty years many tendencies had 
cooperated to break up the Northern people into separate 
factions. In the Northwest, for example, the absence of 
slavery and aristocracy had lured thither all adventurous 
spirits seeking their fortune. There, politically speaking, 
one man was as good as another. He felt that he was and 
asserted it. Consequently it was a difficult task to bring all 
these people together in a common purpose. It was still 
more difficult to impose on them that severe discipline, essen- 
tially aristocratic, which is the secret of military success. 

We have seen that the East had become very nearly as 
democratic as the West. Partly through the War of 181 2, 
partly through the tariff legislation, partly through the general 
shifting of population, the readjustment of business, and the 
rise of new industries, the old aristocratic structure of Eastern 
society had been broken down. The cultivated people who 
led '' society " — in the narrow sense — no longer had a 
corresponding leadership in politics. Education had become 
general. Most of the people had had some schooling and, as 
a rule, this sufficed to undermine their awe of the cultivated 
people of wealth. " Many men of many minds " sums up 
the condition of the North, intellectually, socially, pohtically, 
in 1 86 1. Consequently the Northern people had many 
lessons to learn before they could take kindly to the aristo- 
cratic nature of military excellence. 

596. Country versus City. Again it seemed on the surface 
that the daily habits of the South were more favorable to 
military fife than those of the North. The Southerner of 
every class lived largely out of doors. He was generally a 
good horseman and a good shot. While the same was true 
of all the frontier population North and West, it was not true 



420 AMERICAN HISTORY 

of that large part of the Northern people which lived in cities. 
An ancient prejudice of the man of the country against the 
man of the city led many people in i860 to believe that the 
North could never recruit valiant armies. Experience, how- 
ever, showed that city men, once their innate democracy had 
accepted discij^line, made excellent soldiers. 

597. Relative Resources. The city population of the 
North was really its chief source of strength. The world 
has come to see that wars are won in the workshops and on 
the farms, even more than in the line of battle. Without a 
great industrial system to feed and equip enormous armies, 
modern warfare is impossible. The North, even in 1861, had 
such a system. The South had not. The North cultivated 
twice as much land as the South, and got more money out of 
it because free labor made possible more intelligent industry. 
Furthermore, in 1861, the factories of the North could produce 
anything needed by its armies in order to wage successful war. 
In the South, on the contrary, there was only one foundry 
equipped to cast heavy cannon. There was not a single 
powder mill. There were no makers of arms, and in the whole 
South in 1 86 1, there were not enough rifles to arm the Southern 
volunteers who were so eager to use them.^ The one resource 
of the South was its cotton. Through cotton profits it hoped 
to purchase rifles and cannon in Europe, and build foundries 
at home. Cotton was the key to the situation in the South. 

598. The Naval Contrast. It was in relation to the South's 
dependence upon cotton that the crucial difference of the 
sections was most fully revealed. The South had no navy and 
no shipyards worth mentioning. To protect its cotton trade, 
ships of war were an absolute necessity. As we shall see, the 
South was unable to meet this necessity. The Northern manu- 
facturing superiority turned the scale at last by creating a pow- 
erful navy that swept the Southern cotton trade from the seas. 

* By confiscating the Federal arsenals in the South the Confederacy became 
possessed of a considerable number of muskets, but these were largely of 
antiquated type. 



THE WAR 421 

m. THE PERIOD OF UNCERTAINTIES 

599. Fields of Action. The geography of the Southern 
states made it certain that four distinct regions would be the 
chief seats of war. In the center of the northern boundary 
of the Confederacy lay a great stretch of rugged mountains 
and dense forests. To move an army through these mountain 
forests was almost impossible. Therefore, Virginia on the 
east and Tennessee on the west formed two gateways into 
the South which both sides were eager to secure. A third 
gateway was the lower Mississippi, guarded by New Orleans. 
If a Northern fleet could force its way up the Mississippi and 
unite with a Northern army moving down through Tennessee, 
the South would be cut in two. For that reason the lower 
Mississippi was inevitably a third chief center of action. The 
fourth region was the Atlantic coast. If the Atlantic and Gulf 
ports could go on trading with Europe, sending cotton over and 
receiving supplies in return, the South might be able to keep 
up the war indefinitely. If the North was to win, those ports 
must be closed, their commerce destroyed. Therefore, the 
whole coast had to be watched by a strong fleet. Such then 
were the four predetermined seats of war : Virginia, the country 
between the mountains and the Mississippi, the region about 
New Orleans, and the coast of the Atlantic and the Gulf. 

600. The Military Situation at the Opening of 1862. In 
each of these four regions the Confederate war department, 
during 1861, had prepared to receive attack. Along the coast 
fortifications were built, and at the important places, such as 
Savannah, Charleston, and Norfolk, garrisons were assembled. 
New Orleans was guarded by two strong forts. Other for- 
tifications higher up the river, especially those at Vicksburg, 
were also of prime importance. The most northern of these 
were at Columbus, Kentucky, only a short distance below 
the mouth of the Ohio. From Columbus eastward to the 
mountains there was a string of Confederate posts. Among 
the most important were Fort Henry on the Tennessee River 



42 2 AMERICAN HISTORY 

and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland. At Bowling Green, 
Kentucky, lay the chief Confederate force in that region, com- 
manded by Albert Sidney Johnston. Far to the east of it, 
on the other side of the mountains, Virginia was occupied 
by the army that had won at Manassas. Its commander was 
Joseph E. Johnston. 

In each of the four principal regions great forces of 
Northerners were gathering for battle. The Confederate 
army in Virginia was confronted by the army of the Potomac, 
commanded by McClclkin. He had been organizing this 
army all through the previous autumn, skillfully training 
the Northern mihtia in the art of war. Early in 1862 the army 
of the Potomac had become a good fighting machine, and 
McClellan was ready to try his strength with J. E. Johnston. 
In the west at the opening of the year there were two Federal 
armies, independent of each other. Watching A. S. Johnston, 
in Kentucky, was the army of the Ohio under Don Carlos 
Buell. Farther west, with headquarters at St. Louis, General 
Henry W. Halleck commanded. 

Preparations were also in progress for an attack on New 
Orleans. Ship Island in the Gulf of Mexico had already been 
occupied by a Federal fleet. A fleet under Farragut, carry- 
ing an army under Benjamin F. Butler, was soon to assemble 
there and set to work forcing its way up the Mississippi. 

All along the eastern coast, throughout 1861, the Federal 
navy was being steadily increased and in the course of the 
year it had accomplished much. Fort Hatteras, on the coast of 
North Carolina, and Hilton Head in South Carolina had been 
captured. At the latter place, only sixty miles from Charles- 
ton, a naval base had been established. However, on the side 
of the sea, at the opening of 1862, the North was still com- 
paratively weak. Its navy was not yet strong enough to 
terrorize the coast. Though President Lincoln had declared 
the Southern ports " blockaded " and had forbidden any one 
to go into or come out of them, it was not yet possible to make 
the blockade effective. Southern cotton was still sent over to 



THE WAR 423 

England, and both England and France had done the South 
a great service by issuing proclamations of neutrality.^ This 
amounted to saying that they looked upon the Southerners 
not as " rebels," - as many Northerners wished to have 
them considered, but as lawful opponents of the North in 
war. 

Thus at the opening of 1862 the naval operations along the 
eastern coast seemed as yet of minor importance. The South 
was eager and hopeful. Its armies were prepared for battle in 
Virginia, in the West, and about New Orleans. In each of 
these regions early in 1862 Northern armies began the invasion 
of the South. 

601. The Invasion of Tennessee. The first great blow 
was struck by a portion of Halleck's force under the immediate 
command of Grant. Advancing suddenly up the Tennessee 
River, Grant stormed and took Fort Henry (February 6), 
and ten days later compelled Fort Donelson to surrender. 
Grant's advance had been so swift and successful that John- 
ston, at Bowling Green, did not venture to remain longer so 
far north. He retreated to Nashville, whither Buell followed 
him. 

This sudden success of the Federals had two noteworthy 
consequences. First, the credit for it was given not to Grant 
but to his superior, Halleck, who was made commander over 
all the Federal forces in the West, with Grant and Buell as his 
leading subordinates. Second, it was the cause of Halleck's 

1 The British proclamation of neutrality was issued May 13, i86i. It gave 
the Southerners the standing of "belligerents," entitled to the protection of the 
law of nations. The Southern ships were thus entitled to the same treatment 
in British ports as ships flying the flag of the United States. 

2 At first the Washington government attempted to regard the Southern 
soldiers as mere "rebels," and not as citizens of a foreign state with which the 
Union was at war. On this ground Lincoln for a time refused to exchange pris- 
oners. However, by his blockade proclamation (April 19, 1861), which was 
directed against all Southern commerce and made no distinction whether the 
shipowners were Unionist or Confederate in their sympathies, he practically 
treated the Southern states as foreign powers. Presently he went further and 
authorized the exchange of prisoners. 



424 AMERICAN HISTORY 

attempting an advance upon Corinth, in Mississippi, a railway 
center of vital importance to the defense of the Confederacy. 

Perceiving that Corinth would certainly be the objective 
point of the Federals, Johnston hurried thither, while Halleck, 
with a view to advancing on Corinth, ordered all his forces to 
concentrate at Pittsburg Landing in southern Tennessee. 




THE WAR IN THE WEST. 1862 

But these forces were widely scattered and could not im- 
mediately be brought together. At the opening of April, 
though Grant had reached Pittsburg Landing with 43,000 
men, Buell was still some distance away. A third division 
of Halleck's forces, under General John Pope, was busy on the 
Mississippi, held in check by the great fortress known as 
Island No. 10.^ Grant's position well in advance of the other 
Federal armies was full of danger, and Johnston, who had 
assembled 40,000 men at Corinth, saw that his chance had 
come. He would strike Grant and destroy him before Buell 
could arrive. A swift march from Corinth ended in a furious 
attack on Grant's camp at Shiloh, two miles from Pittsburg 
Landing, April 6, 1862. The Federals were taken by surprise 
and thrown into confusion. By nightfall, after desperate 
fighting, they were slowly retreating. The Confederates ap- 
peared to have won a great victory, but the next day the sit- 
uation changed. Johnston, who had been mortally wounded, 
was succeeded in command by Beauregard. During the night 
Buell had come up with 20,000 men. The united Federal 
* Almost on the southern line of Kentucky. 



THE WAR 



425 



army now, in turn, drove the Confederates from the field, and 
Beauregard retreated to Corinth. 

602. Halleck against Corinth. Beauregard's retreat left 
Halleck free to concentrate his forces at leisure. He soon 
joined the camp at Pitts- 
burg Landing, but he would 
not move against Corinth 
until all his three armies 
were consoKdated into one. 
This was made possible by 
the surrender of Island No. 
10 to Pope (April 8), who 
was thus enabled to bring 
his whole force to Pittsburg 
Landing on April 2 2 . Hal- 
leck had now brought 
together 100,000 men. 
Beauregard at Corinth had 
only 50,000. The distance 
separating the two armies 
was but twenty miles. 

At this juncture, telegrams from Washington informed 
Halleck that a Federal fleet under Farragut had daringly run 
past the forts below New Orleans and was before the city. 
On May i Farragut landed Butler's army in New Orleans 
(section 600) and went on up the river with his fleet. His 
purpose was to destroy Vicksburg — " the Gibraltar of the 
West," as it was called — and the Federal authorities urged 
Halleck to press forward and cooperate with him. The wis- 
dom of such a course was quickly proved when Farragut after 
bombarding Vicksburg confessed his inability to reduce it 
without the aid of an army. But Halleck, after much hesi- 
tation, decided the time had not come to attack Vicksburg. 
With incredible slowness he went forward toward Corinth. 
Johnston had covered the same distance in two days. Halleck 
took thirty-seven days. He reached it May 30, 1862, one 




A. S. JOHNSTON 



426 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



day after Beauregard with all his army had quietly marched 
away to form a new camp fifty miles south. 

603. The Pause in the West. A fleet of Federal gunboats, 
coming down the Mississippi, destroyed a Confederate fleet 
and forced the surrender of Memphis, June 6. The Federals 
now had control of the river as far south as Vicksburg, but that 
great fortress was like a lion in their path. Its defenses had 
been greatly strengthened during the month which Halleck 
had wasted. To attack it at once seemed to Halleck un- 







liOMBARDMENT OF VICKSBURG 



reasonable. He could think of nothing better to do than to 
make a long pause at Corinth, and wait to be attacked. 

604. Contemporaneous Eastern Events. During all this 
stern fighting along the Mississippi, the Confederate war 
department was unable to send assistance from the East. 
This fact shows the extent of the Federal attack. From the 
start the Confederate armies formed two great forces, eastern 
and western. Each group was so closely pressed by its op- 
ponents that President Davis dared not draw off any part of 
one to assist the other. This state of things continued in the 
main throughout the war. The Richmond government was 



THE WAR 



427 



always directing an eastern and a western army and almost 
always each force was too busy on its own field to give aid to 
the other. 

605. The Ironclads. In 1862 there were notable Confeder- 
ate successes in the East. They began with the destruction 
of the Federal vessels at Hampton Roads by a new sort of 
warship, the armored ram Virginia. This vessel had once 
been the United States frigate Merrimac. It had fallen into 




MONITOR AND VIRGINIA 

the hands of the Confederates, had been remodeled, and 
sheathed with iron. Steaming from Norfolk, it attacked a 
fleet of old-style wooden ships lying in Hampton Roads.^ 

Without injury to herself the Virginia sank the old warship 
Cumberland and disabled the Congress. However, the Con- 
federates had not been alone in the attempt to design new 
ships of war. The North at the same time was doing the same 
thing. A Swedish engineer, John Ericsson, had built the 

1 The United States had kept possession of Fortress Monroe, which formed 
an important naval base. 



428 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Monitor, a small ironclad, sitting low in the water, with a 
revolving armored turret which sheltered her powerful can- 
non. The Monitor arrived in Hampton Roads just at the 
crucial moment. On March 9 the two ironclads met. They 
circled about each other in a fierce duel, and more than once 
the mouths of their cannon almost touched. Though neither 
vessel was seriously damaged, the Virginia at last drew off 
and steamed back to Norfolk. 

606. The Invasion of Virginia. With the Monitor check- 
mating the Virginia, the Federals had full control of Chesa- 
peake Bay. McClellan decided to take his army by water 
from the neighborhood of Washington to Fortress Monroe 
and thence march upon Richmond. Accordingly, more than 
1 20,000 men were landed on the Virginia coast and marched 
with extreme deliberation up the peninsula between the 
York and James rivers. A month was spent by McClellan 
getting ready to bombard Yorktown, and during that time 
Johnston concentrated his forces for the defense of Richmond. 
Then, just as the Federal siege guns were about to open 
fire upon Yorktown, the Confederates withdrew (May 3), 
McClellan, slowly following, reached the Chickahominy River, 
and there made a great mistake. Instead of crossing at once 
with his whole army, he sent part of it across, while the rest 
halted. A sudden rise of the river threatened to cut the army 
of the Potomac in two. Johnston saw his opportunity. 
Wheeling upon his pursuers, he attacked that part of them 
already across the Chickahominy and separated from the rest 
by the flooded stream. This was the battle of Seven Pines 
or Fair Oaks. McClellan barely succeeded in saving his army 
from destruction, and two days of desperate fighting proved 
necessary to do it, but at last he held his ground (May 31- 
June i). The Confederates fell back to Richmond, which was 
but a few miles distant. Johnston, who had been wounded in 
the battle, was succeeded in command by Robert Edward Lee. 

607. Jackson circumvents McClellan. McClellan did 
not believe that his army by itself was strong enough to take 



THE WAR 



429 



Richmond. He was misled by his scouts, and got the notion 
that the army opposed to him was two or three times its 
actual size. In point of fact it was but half as large as his 
own. Nevertheless, he tormented Lincoln for reenforcements, 
and at last it was arranged that McDowell with some 40,000 
men should come to his aid. But McDowell never came. 
He was prevented by the daring exploits of one of the greatest 
of the great leaders of the war. This was Stonewall Jackson 
(section 589, note). As 
McDowell was preparing 
to move southward, Jack- 
son made a brief but won- 
derful campaign in the 
Shenandoah Valley. So 
swift and startling were his 
movements, that the War 
Department feared he 
would get behind McDowell 
and attack Washington. 
In hot haste McDowell was 
ordered back to protect 
the capital. Jackson's real 
purpose, however, was not 
to attack Washington, but 
to prevent the junction of 
McDowell and McClellan. While great preparations were 
being made to resist Jackson, he suddenly slipped away, took 
his army with amazing swiftness across Virginia, and joined 
Lee at Richmond, June 23.^ 

608. The Change of Base. Thus McClellan found himself 
balked. He had not been joined by McDowell and he had 
allowed his enemies to concentrate their forces. He lacked 
neither courage nor ability, but he was not a match for either 
of the two great geniuses now opposed to him. His own genius 

^ Ever since the battle of Fair Oaks, McClellan had remained inactive on the 
banks of the Chickahominy. 




STONEWALL JACKSON 



430 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



was chiefly in the hne of organization. He had made an army 
out of raw levies, but now that it was made he was not equal 
to using it, and at this moment he was deliberating whether 
he ought not to " change his base," — that is, move his 
depot of supphes from a point on the Pamunkey River to a 
less exposed point on the James. 

609. The Seven Days. While McClellan was hesitating 
what to do, Lee attacked him (June 26). This was the 




VIRGINIA CAMPAIGN. 1862 

beginning of a terrible conflict known as the Seven Days' 
Battles. The first day's light was not decisive. On the sec- 
ond day occurred the fierce battle of Gaines' Mills, in which 
one wing of the Federal army, commanded by Fitz-John Por- 
ter, bore the whole brunt of the fighting. That night Mc- 




ROBERT EDWARD LEE 
From a negative in the possession of H. P. Cook, Richmond, Va. 



THE WAR 431 

Clellan gave orders to attempt the change of base. During 
the next four days the army of the Potomac slowly edged away 
toward the James. It was on this famous retreat — for such 
it was — that McClellan appeared at his best. With great 
skill he kept his army in good order, while repulsing the 
eager Southern columns hurled against him in a grand fury 
of enthusiasm. The last terrific attack was made at Malvern 
Hill, July I. The Confederates, after appalling losses, fell 
back from before the massed cannon of the Federals. The 
next day McClellan formed his new base on the. James River, 
under the guns of a Federal fleet. His "peninsular campaign " 
had cost the Federals 23,000 men. The Confederates had lost 
27,000 men, but Richmond had been saved, and the confidence 
of the North in its chief general had been sadly shaken. 

610. Pope supplants McClellan. While McClellan was 
retreating, all the forces about Washington had been com- 
bined into one army, and General Pope had been summoned 
from the west to command it. Both Lincoln and his secre- 
tary of war, Edwin M. Stanton, had lost confidence in 
McClellan, and they had fixed on Pope to take his place. 
McClellan was ordered to abandon the peninsula and bring 
his army home by sea. A great part of it was taken from 
him and instructed to join Pope. 

611. Second Manassas. That headlong and stubborn 
soldier marched into Virginia. Thereupon, Lee, with all his 
forces, hurried northward, hoping to attack Pope before 
McClellan's army could join him. It was in carrying out 
Lee's plan that Jackson again astonished the world by the 
swiftness with which he marched. Sweeping clear around 
Pope's army, he got between him and Washington and burnt 
his supplies at Manassas. Lee then attacked in front. Thus 
began the terrible second battle of Manassas, fought on the 
old field of Bull Run (August 30). Pope was beaten so com- 
pletely that the confidence he had enjoyed hitherto immedi- 
ately vanished. His army retreated toward Washington, and 
the unfortunate general was removed from command. 



432 AMERICAN HISTORY 

612. The Confederate Counterstrokes. The month of 
August, 1862, was a hopeful period for the Confederacy. 
Both east and west the Federal armies were either retreating 
or at a standstill. In the west they had not made any note- 
worthy advance since Halleck paused at Corinth. Though 
that slow general had been lately called to Washington as 
military adviser of President Lincoln, he continued to keep 
the western armies inactive. The western Confederates, on 
the other hand, after the long rest Halleck had allowed 
them, were eagerly preparing to turn the tables. President 
Davis had given them a new general, Braxton Bragg (June, 
1862), who now planned a great forward movement de- 
signed to strike the Federals in three places at once, drive 
them back from Mississippi and Tennessee, win Kentucky 
for the Confederacy, and fix its northern boundary at the 
Ohio River. 

Another great movement of Confederates was planned in 
the east. Lee decided to follow up his victory at Manassas 
by an invasion of Maryland. 

613. Hopes of the Confederates. The Confederate gov- 
ernment expected great results from these forward move- 
ments. It was believed at Richmond that both Kentucky and 
Maryland had been kept from seceding only by the presence 
of Federal soldiers. Furthermore, in all the Northern states, 
elections for a new House of Representatives would be held 
in November. It was known that a considerable portion of 
the Northern people wished the South to succeed, while many 
others, convinced that the war must end in failure, were op- 
posed to what they considered a useless waste of Ufe.^ If 
victorious Southern armies could drive the Northern armies 
from all the Southern states, and if, in the course of the autumn, 
Kentucky and Maryland fmally joined the Confederacy, it 
might well follow that the November elections would result in 

' This attitude was summed up in the saying, " Let the erring sisters go in 
peace." It must not be confused with the attitude of friendHness to secession. 
For the latter, see section 640. 



THE WAR 433 

a House opposed to the war, and that the independence of 
the Confederacy would be recognized at Washington. Filled 
with these hopes, the Southern leaders pressed forward the two 
great counterstrokes that were to force the Federal govern- 
ment to make peace. 

614. The Eastern Counter stroke. Lee crossed the Potomac 
early in September, and issued a proclamation calling on the 
Marylanders to rise against the Federal government and join 
the Confederacy. But western Maryland proved to be largely 
Federal in feeling, and there was no rising; no Maryland 
troops joined Lee. He had forbidden pillage and wished to 
pay his way, but the farmers refused to accept Confederate 
money. Though Jackson performed another brilliant exploit, 
capturing Harper's Ferry with some 12,000 men, the outlook 
was very dark when Lee reached Sharpsburg, on Antietam 
Creek. He had with him less than 50,000 men.^ 

Beyond the Antietam lay the army of the Potomac, 95,000 
strong. McClellan was again in command of it. Now that 
Pope was out of favor, there was no one else available on whom 
the Washington government dared rely, and, therefore, 
McClellan was given his second opportunity. The battle of 
Antietam, or Sharpsburg, was fought September 17. It was 
undoubtedly one of the half dozen critical events of the war. 
Had the Federals been defeated that day, Lee would have 
entered Washington, and there is no telling how the whole 
political situation might have changed. But the Federals 
were not defeated. It is an open question whether they gained 
a victory. Antietam may be classed as a drawn battle in 
which neither side was entirely successful. It was a fright- 
fully bloody battle, which proved only that Lee was not 
strong enough to crush the army of the Potomac and take 
Washington. 

615. Fredericksburg. Lee fell back into Virginia, and 
McClellan would not risk an attack upon him as he retreated. 
This excess of caution finally convinced Lincoln that McClellan 

1 Estimates of his force differ ; Lee's own estimate was 40,000. 



434 AMERICAN HISTORY 

was unfit for his difficult position. He was removed and 
General Ambrose E. Burnside was appointed to succeed him. 
The change proved disastrous. Though the new commander 
was utterly without fear, he was also without genius. Eager 
to make up for McClellan's overcaution, he pressed forward 
into central Virginia, where Lee had entrenched his army at 
Fredericksburg. There, December 13, Burnside attacked 
him. The assault is justly considered one of the great ex- 
amples of American courage, but it was utterly useless. The 
Confederate fines were impregnable. The army of the Poto- 
mac was hurled against them, in charge after charge, with 
no result but a reckless display of the daring of the American 
soldier. After fearful slaughter, his officers begged Burnside 
to give up the attempt. At last he consented, and ordered 
a retreat toward Washington. 

616. The Western Counterstroke. Let us now see what 
had happened in the west. When Halleck went to Washing- 
ton (section 612) he divided the western Federal armies be- 
tween Grant and Buell. Through Hallcck's orders nothing 
was done for a considerable time, with the exception of a move- 
ment by Bucll toward Chattanooga. This was checked in 
July by the famous Confederate cavalry commander, General 
Nathan B. Forrest. Then followed a number of daring 
cavalry raids, conducted chiefly by Forrest and his rival in 
reputation, General John H. Morgan. One or the other of 
them repeatedly attacked outlying Federal posts with brilfiant 
success. Meanwhile Bragg made his arrangements for a 
triple movement against all the Federal forces in the west 
(section 612). His own forces were grouped in Mississippi, 
central Tennessee, and eastern Tennessee. In September 
they were in motion along three separate fines of advance. 
General Earl Van Dorn moved against Corinth. At the other 
extremity of the Confederate line. General Kirby Smith 
marched from east Tennessee into Kentucky, and threatened 
Cincinnati. Bragg himself invaded western Kentucky from 
Chattanooga, aiming at Louisville. 



THE WAR 



435 



Like Lee in the invasion of Maryland, Bragg counted upon 
a general uprising of the state he meant to occupy. But Kke 
Lee in Maryland, he suffered disappointment. Few Ken- 
tuckians joined his army. At the same time, through unwise 
delays, he permitted Buell, who made a swift march north- 
ward, to get between him and Louisville. A fierce, though 
indecisive battle, fought at 
Perryville, October 8, con- 
vinced Bragg that his in- 
vasion of Kentucky was 
a mistake. Kirby Smith 
had also lost hope. Both 
commanders withdrew with 
heavy hearts into Tennessee. 

To add to the discour- 
agements of the Confeder- 
ates, Van Dorn had also 
failed. An attack which 
he had made upon Corinth, 
with a view to shattering 
Grant's army, had been 
foiled by Grant's chief lieu- 
tenant. General William S. 
Rosecrans, October 3-4. 

617. Situation at the End 
of 1862. This success of 
Rosecrans made him the man of the moment. The govern- 
ment at Washington was impatient to find generals who showed 
driving energy ; Buell was supposed, perhaps unjustly, to lack 
it. Like McClellan he was blamed for not destroying his 
enemy as he retreated. We have seen that McClellan was 
removed in November and the impetuous Burnside put in his 
place. That same month Buell was removed, and the com- 
mand of his army given to Rosecrans. During November 
and December, 1862, while Burnside was pushing across 
Virginia against Lee, Rosecrans was making vigorous prepara- 




STATUE OF GENERAL FORREST, 
MEMPmS 



436 AMERICAN HISTORY 

tions to strike Bragg. The general forward movement of the 
Confederates had changed to a general movement of retreat, 
Uke a great flood that had reached its high tide and was now 
ebbing. From Virginia to the Mississippi the Federals were 
now advancing. 

In this advance the movements of Rosecrans were of great 
importance because of their bearing upon Vicksburg. Grant 
had at last got permission from Halleck to attempt its capture. 
To do so he must destroy the Confederate forces in Mississippi. 
But that would be impossible unless Bragg was prevented 
from coming to their aid. To prevent Bragg was the business 
of Rosecrans. Bragg, on the other hand, had one last chance 
to stop the advance upon Vicksburg.^ If he could fight and 
beat Rosecrans he might then turn westward, catch Grant 
in a vise, as it were, before Vicksburg, and destroy him. 
Therefore, the three days' battle of Murfreesboro, fought on 
the last day of 1862 and the first two of 1863, is one of the 
chief actions of the war. It has truly been called a terrible 
battle, so fierce was the fighting. The Confederate charges 
were as fine displays of daring as our history contains. There 
was a time when it seemed as if they had won the battle. 
But Rosecrans was a very stubborn fighter, and Bragg was 
at length forced to retreat. Thereafter Rosecrans watched 
him so closely that he was unable to make any movement to 
assist Vicksburg. Grant advanced with all his forces against 
this western Gibraltar. 

IV. THE CRISIS 

618. Foreign Affairs in 1862. Great things happened in 
1862 at other places than the fields of battle. Hitherto the 
South had hoped for aid from Europe. England was the 
world's chief cotton manufacturer, and all her raw cotton came 

* Grant made his first advance against Vicksburg in December, 1862. A 
Confederate raid, which destroyed his base of supplies at Holly Springs, forced 
him to fall back (December 20). Sherman, who was in command of a separate 
column, was repulsed (December 27) at Chickasaw Bayou. 




THE WAR 437 

from the South. Southerners reasoned that England would 
never consent to the closing of Southern ports, for that would 
mean shutting off her supply of cotton and loss of employ- 
ment to thousands of her workmen. France was also more 
than willing to see the American Union divided in two. Both 
these powers, in their desire to encourage the South, had gone 
as far as they could without actually declaring war on the 
United States. In fact, the French emperor. Napoleon III, 
had taken a step which amounted to a challenge to the 
United States to defend the Monroe 
Doctrine if they dared. He undertook 
to bring a New World republic under 
monarchical influence and French legions 
were landed in Mexico. Napoleon's 
course was bitterly resented in the 
North, but Lincoln and his cabinet 
knew they dared not, just then, go to 
war with France. They had no choice com of the Mexican 
but to wait grimly for the time when 

their hands should be free and they might force the emperor 
to withdraw the legions from Mexican soil.^ 

619. English Ships for the Confederacy. Relations with 
England were also alarming the North. In the spring of 
1862 Confederate agents bought in England and sent to sea 
a commerce destroyer, the Florida. Another ship, the Ala- 
bama, was built for the Confederacy at Liverpool, and in spite 
of the protest of the American minister, Charles Francis 
Adams, was allowed to go to sea (July, 1862). Napoleon was 
then urging the English ministry to agree to cooperate with 
him in a joint Anglo-French intervention by force of arms in 
American affairs, and many prominent Englishmen made no 



^ In 1863 Napoleon suppressed the Mexican republic altogether and set 
up Maximilian of Austria as emperor. The United States protested, but did 
no more than that until after the war. In 1865 the United States practically 
threatened to invade Mexico. Napoleon subsequently withdrew his army and 
Maximilian was executed by the Mexicans. 



438 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



secret of their wish to take such a course. William Ewart 
Gladstone said in a public address, " Jefferson Davis, and 
other leaders of the South, have made an army, they are 
making, it appears, a navy; and they have made what is 
more than either — a nation." Gladstone was then 
chancellor of the exchequer in the ministry of Lord Palmer- 
ston.^ Hearing of this speech, Mr. Adams said, " We are 

now passing through the 
very crisis of our fate." 

620. The Union Party 
in England. However, 
there was one factor in 
this diplomatic chess game 
which was not fully ap- 
preciated either by the 
Confederates or by the 
British ministry. This 
was the feeling of the 
English working people on 
the subject of slavery. 
American lecturers, such 
as Henry Ward Beecher, 
and certain English radi- 
cals, such as John Bright 
and John Stuart Mill, had 
aroused and organized the 
antislavery spirit of Great Britain. The workingmen thought 
of slavery as a despotic institution opposed to all the interests 
of their class. Consequently, when cotton ran short in Eng- 
land and the mills began to shut down, the Confederates met 
with a great surprise. They had expected to hear of the 
English workingmen clamoring for English intervention in 
America so as to open the ports of the South. Instead, the 

'There was an "American party" in the cabinet, led by the Duke of 
Argylc, which steadily favored the North and more or less tied Palmerston's 
hands. 




ADMIRAL RAPHAEL SEMMES, COM- 
MANDER OF THE ALABAMA 



THE WAR 439 

workingmen declared uncompromising hostility to any gov- 
ernment that supported slavery.^ 

621. The Emancipation Proclamation. It was partly to 
take advantage of this feeling that Lincoln, in the latter part 
of 1862, had decided on a bold measure. Up to that time he 
had made no move hostile to slavery. Twice he had reversed 
the acts of Federal generals who had proclaimed freedom to the 
slaves.^ As late as August, 1862, he had refused to commit 
himself to emancipation. In that month, when everything 
looked dark for the North, Horace Greeley, in the New York 
Tribune, violently attacked the President for what he called 
his defense of " rebel slavery." Lincoln replied in an open 
letter printed in a Washington newspaper. He said : " My 
paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to save 
or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing 
any slave, I would do it ; and if I could save it by freeing all 
the slaves I would do it. If I could save it by freeing some, 
and leaving others alone, I would also do that." ^ However, 
he was even then considering emancipation as a war measure. 
He^ saw three reasons for giving to the war an antislavery 
turn: (i) a wholesale freeing of slaves might revolutionize 
those parts of the South not held by the Confederate armies ; 
(2) it would bring to his support certain classes in the North, 
the extreme aboHtionists, who had hitherto held aloof '' and 

1 A few Southerners had seen from the beginning that such would be the case, 
and that because of its workingmen, the British government would not venture 
to intervene. B. C. Yancey, early in 1861, foretold what would happen. See 
the life of Charles Francis Adams by his son, C. F. Adams. 

2 These proclamations were issued by General Fremont (August, 1861), and 
General Hunter (May, 1862). Runaway negroes, however, had been received 
within the Federal lines and retained as "contraband of war," that is, property 
seized from the enemy in order to reduce his strength. Congress authorized the 
retention of these slaves by a sweeping confiscation act, July 17, 1862. 

^ This is all the more significant because Lincoln was always personally a 
strong opponent of slavery. He had already urged Congress to free the slaves 
in the border states by purchase. Congress had approved the scheme, but the 
states would not cooperate, and nothing came of it. 

^ At first the abolitionists bitterly opposed the war. Their hatred of the 
South was so extreme that they rejoiced in the prospect of separation. 



440 AMERICAN HISTORY 

(3) above all it would secure the hearty support of the North 
by the English radicals. For all these reasons he decided, in 
September, 1862, to follow up the next success of the Federal 
arms by a blow at slavery in the states.^ Antietam, followed 
by Lee's retreat, served his purpose. On September 22 he 
issued a proclamation which gave notice that he would, one 
hundred days thereafter, declare free all slaves in every state 
that had not meanwhile laid down its arms and acknowledged 
the authority of the Union. As no state did so, he issued, 
January i, 1863, his Emancipation Proclamation. It was 
issued solely on his own responsibility as commander in chief 
of the armies of the United States, and did not apply to those 
slave states which had not seceded. Since the Federal author- 
ity extended over but a small part of the South, the proc- 
lamation did not, of course, have much immediate effect 
upon slavery. It was not expected to have. Its significance 
was as a declaration of policy. Thereafter, the North could 
take the attitude of an armed champion of freedom against 
slavery. This attitude brought into line behind the Lincoln 
administration those antislavery extremists who had hitherto 
withheld their support. It also secured for the North the 
enthusiastic support of the working class, and of the radicals 
generally, in England. With those classes eagerly opposed to 
assisting the South, the British ministry drew back and be- 
came less considerate of Southern interests. As a piece of 
political and diplomatic generalship the Emancipation Proc- 
lamation was one of the great strokes of the Lincoln 
administration.^ 

* Congress had already abolished slavery in the territories (June 19, 1862). 
It had previously purchased and set free the slaves in the District of Columbia 
(April 16, 1862). 

2 One result of emancipation was the enlistment of negro troops. The first 
black regiment was the First South Carolina Volunteers, commanded by a New 
England abolitionist, Colonel T. W. Higginson. A famous negro regiment was 
the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts, commanded by Robert G. Shaw. It took part 
in the very desperate assault upon Battery Wagner, near Charleston, where 
Shaw was killed. In all, there were 179,000 negro troops in the armies of the 
United States. 




ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
From a photogravure. © A. W. Elson & Co., Boston 



THE WAR 



441 




FEDERAL WAR-TIME 
ENVELOPE 



622. Composition of the Armies. It was the miHtary cus- 
tom at that time to suspend operations if possible during the 
winter. Very Httle was done by any of the armies in the early 
months of 1863/ while the governments, both at Washing- 
ton and at Richmond, made every effort to increase their 
fighting strength. The Federal soldiers at the opening of 
1863 numbered 918,000, the Con- 
federate, 466,000. At first, the 
armies had been composed of vol- 
unteers only, but the South with 
its comparatively small population 
had been forced early to pass con- 
scription laws.^ The North now 
took the same course. Congress 
passed a Draft Act,^ March 3, 1863. 
A certain number of men, in every 
township of the North, were to be 
drawn by lot for service in the field. 

623. Habeas Corpus. In order to strengthen the govern- 
ment, the Federal Congress empowered the President to sus- 
pend the writ of habeas corpus."^ The privileges of habeas corpus 

1 Grant, stubbornly returning to the attack after his severe mishap in Decem- 
ber (section 617, note), made two attempts upon Vicksburg But the ob- 
stacles in his way were so great that both undertakings failed. 

Another Federal disaster about the same time was the failure of an attempt 
to occupy Galveston (January, 1863). 

^ In April, 1862, all white males between eighteen and thirty-five years of 
age were made subject to military duty. Later acts extended the age until, as 
has been said, conscription "robbed both the cradle and the grave." 

^ The Draft Act provoked violent protest, resulting in what were known as 
"draft riots." The worst were in New York City. For three days, in July, 
1863, the city was in possession of the mob. More than a thousand people were 
killed or wounded, and much property was destroyed. The riot was finally 
suppressed by soldiers. 

^ Lincoln had previously suspended writ of habeas corpus on his own author- 
ity. Says Alexander Johnston : " By the writ of Habeas Corpus, an imprisoned 
person obtains an examination before the courts, and a release if his imprison- 
ment is shown to be without warrant of law. Its suspension was considered 
necessary on account of the number of Northern courts disposed to resist mil- 
itary arrests of suspected persons." "American Politics " (ed. of 1910, p. 203). 



442 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



are among the fundamental things of Anglo-Saxon civiliza- 
tion, and by suspending these privileges, Congress made it 
possible for any one suspected of disloyalty to the government 
to be arrested on suspicion and kept in prison indefinitely, 
without a trial. This power made the President almost a 
dictator. Fortunately, Lincoln used it with moderation.^ 

624. Federal Advance Resumed. Both these acts were 
evidences that the crisis of the war had come. The aim of 
the Federal Congress ^ was to increase the resources and 
efficiency of the Washington government to the maximum. 
With its power thus increased, the Lincoln administration 
turned again to the task of pushing a great army south toward 
Richmond. Burnside, having proved incompetent, was 
succeeded in command by General Joseph E. Hooker. The 
new commander was much abler than his predecessor, but to 
some extent he mistook courage for genius, and energy for 
judgment. Marching southward, he met Lee and Jackson 
at Chancellorsville. The two days' battle which followed 
(May 2-3, 1863) was one of the most brilliant of Confederate 
victories. Jackson conducted a famous flanking march which 
made Hooker's position untenable and was the crowning 
achievement of Jackson's life. Again, the army of the Poto- 
mac was driven back upon Washington. 

625. Death of Jackson. However, Chancellorsville in- 
fUcted upon the Confederacy one of its most irreparable 
losses. Jackson, having ridden far forward, was mistaken by 
his own men for an enemy, and as he rode back, they fired 
upon him. He was mortally wounded and died shortly after. 
His death robbed the Confederacy of one of its chief hopes 
of success. Jackson's genius had wonderfully supplemented 

1 In this session Congress established the present system of national banks. 

The government also issued great quantities of paper money, which soon 
fell in value because it could not be exchanged for gold. In 1864 a paper 
dollar of the United States was worth only about a third as much as a gold 
dollar. 

^ The elections of 1862 had reduced the majority in Congress supporting the 
administration but had not put the peace party in power. (Section 613.) 



THE WAR 



443 



and sustained the genius of Lee, who never again found an 
assistant that could execute his designs with the judgment 
and swiftness of Jackson. 

626. The Spring of 1863. Following the battle of Chan- 
cellorsville came another pause in the war in the east, and while 
Lee was recuperating liis army during May, 1863, the west 
again became the center of interest. There Grant had sought 
patiently to take General Pemberton^ at a disadvantage, but 
so far, had not succeeded. At last Grant had conceived a 
plan of extreme boldness. He proposed to cross the Missis- 
sippi, march past Vicksburg, recross the river, and attack 
Vicksburg from the rear. 
To do so he would have to 
cut loose from his base of 
supplies, and operate in 
a country entirely con- 
trolled by his enemy. 

Once having made up 
his mind, Grant was in- 
flexible. He made his 
land-march down the 
west side of the river, and ordered Admiral Porter with a 
fleet of gunboats to run past the Vicksburg batteries, and 
join him below the city. Porter did so, despite a fierce can- 
nonade. He ferried Grant's army across the Mississippi at 
Bruinsburg. A week later Grant parted from him, and ad- 
vanced into the heart of his enemy's country. 

Grant's movements during the next eleven days form one 
of the brilliant episodes of the war, and have won from other 
soldiers the highest praise. His swift marching and bold 
fighting culminated in the battle of Champion's Hill, called 
also Baker's Creek, May 16. Pemberton was defeated and, 
after another disastrous engagement, was shut up inside the 
fortifications of Vicksburg, around which was rapidly gathered 
a besieging force of seventy thousand men. 

* In command in Mississippi since October, 1862. 




GRANT'S MARCH TO VICKSBURG 



444 AMERICAN HISTORY 

627. The Moment of Crisis. The surrounding of Vicksburg 
by Federal armies created a desperate situation for the Con- 
federacy. However, the key to the situation was not any- 
where in America but in London. Again, international re- 
lations had become the absorbing question of the hour, and 
both Washington and Richmond bent all their energies 
toward securing the friendship of Great Britain. Both gov- 
ernments took the keenest interest in two powerful ironclads, 
then being built at Liverpool and known to be destined for 
the service of the Confederacy. These ships would probably 
outclass any ships of the Northern na\y and by means of 
them the Northern coast might be put at the mercy of the 
Confederates. With such enemies active in the rear of their 
armies, the war party in Congress might yet be brought to 
make peace and acknowledge the Confederacy. From the 
Southern point of view the sailing of the ironclads from 
Liverpool would be the happiest event of the war. 

But would they be allowed to sail? Had conditions been 
the same as in the previous year when the Alabama was 
allowed to sail (section 619), the ironclads would certainly 
have gone to sea. Since then, however, the Washington 
government had won its great diplomatic triumph (section 
621). Furthermore, Grant's success around Vicksburg had 
greatly increased the prestige of the Federal armies. There 
could be no doubt that the British ministry was now con- 
sidering whether it should not commit itself to the side of the 
North. At the same time the Federal authorities, confident 
that they had gained powerful friends in England, were firmly 
demanding that the British government prevent the saiHng 
of the ironclads. The very moment of crisis for the Con- 
federacy had arrived, and nothing but a victory on a great 
scale, checking entirely the Northern advance, could now save 
the day, recover the friendship of the British ministry, and 
secure the release of the ironclads at Liverpool. To accom- 
plish these great results, the Confederate authorities decided 
upon an invasion of the North. 



THE WAR 



445 



628. Gettysburg. Early in June, Lee with his celebrated 
*' Army of northern Virginia " set out upon the greatest of 
his many great undertakings. His design was to move across 
upper Maryland and carry the war into Pennsylvania. Be- 
fore him was the army of the Potomac now commanded by 
General George G. Meade, a strong, calm, resolute man, not a 
great genius and yet, as events proved, equal to the occasion. 

Lee carried out successfully the first part of his plan. The 
Federals got no opportunity to strike him as he crossed Mary- 
land. His skillful strategy compelled 
the army of the Potomac to withdraw 
across the river and follow the Con- 
federates northwestward. 

On the first day of July both armies 
were in Pennsylvania. Lee, with some 
70,000 men, was somewhat to the north- 
west of the little town of Gettysburg. 
Meade, with about 100,000, was some- 
what to the east.^ At Gettysburg, on 
that day, portions of the two armies 
met, and sharp fighting resulted. The 
Federals were driven back, and intrenched themselves upon 
a Hne of hills, south of the town. 

During the night following, both commanders were hurry- 
ing forward all their forces toward Gettysburg. The Con- 
federates arrived more rapidly than the Federals, and on the 
morning of the second, Lee's force was greater than Meade's. 
Beheving that such would be the case, Lee, apparently, had 
ordered an attack to be made at dawn, but owing, it seems, 
to a disastrous misunderstanding on the part of General 
Longstreet, now Lee's chief heutenant, the attack was not 
made until late in the day. Meanwhile, great numbers of 
Federal troops had come up, and when at last the Confederates 
advanced, the advantage of numbers was no longer on Lee's 

1 Lee began the campaign witK 76,224 men; Meade, with 115,226. Neither 
army was in full strength at Gettysburg. See Alexander, " Memoirs," 368-370. 




GETTYSBURG 



446 AMERICAN HISTORY 

side. Nevertheless, two gallant assaults were made. Long- 
street attacked the Federal left wing posted on the hills known 
as " Round Top " and " Little Round Top," while General 
Richard S. Ewell stormed the right on Gulp's Hill. The 
fighting was desperate at both places. Longstreet, however, 
was driven back, and the Round Tops were securely held by 
the Federals. Ewell, on the other hand, fought his way to 
the top of Gulp's Hill, and there his men remained during the 
night. 

The final battle occurred next day. It was opened early in 
the morning, by a furious Federal attack upon Ewell, who 
at length withdrew from Gulp's Hill. Thus the Federal army 
recovered the position it had occupied the day before. The 
hills between Gulp's Hill and Little Round Top were known 
as Gemetery Ridge, and along this ridge was posted the bulk of 
Meade's army. The crucial point was held by veteran troops 
commanded by General Winfield Scott Hancock. It was this 
part of the Federal fine which Lee now resolved to pierce. 
As preparation for the attack, the Gonfederate artillery was 
ordered to silence the Federal guns. For two hours the can- 
non of both armies thundered at each other across open fields 
until, about three ^ in the afternoon, the Federal batteries 
ceased firing, and the Gonfederate order to charge was given. 
In all the history of war there is nothing more famous than 
the heroic advance known to-day as " Pickett's charge." 
A magnificent column composed of 15,000 of Lee's best vet- 
erans, commanded by General G. E. Pickett, swept forward in 
this grand assault upon the Federal center, to reach which they 
had to cover a mile of open country. As they came, the Fed- 
eral guns reopened fire and rained upon them a hurricane of 
cannon shot. Terrific infantry fire swept their ranks and 
opened frightful gaps, but though thrown into confusion, they 
did not falter. General L. A. Armistead, with his cap on the 
point of his sword, leaped upon the Federal intrcnchments, 

* The precise hour of the great attack, as well as the duration of the artillery 
duel, is a matter of dispute. 



THE WAR 447 

crying, " Boys, give them the cold steel." He was shot down. 
A portion of the assailants burst through the Federal line,^ 
and for a brief space held their ground on the summit of Ceme- 
tery Ridge. But they had attempted the impossible. A 
mighty wave of Federal infantry rushed upon them, swept 
them backward, and the day was lost for the South, 

629. Fourth of July, 1863. Thus ended the great struggle 
of July 3. On July 4, all day long, the two armies faced each 
other inactive. 

That same day, far off on the Mississippi, the Confederates 
suffered another terrible reverse. Vicksburg surrendered. 
The fortress, its guns, and 30,000 prisoners fell into the hands 
of the Federals.^ 

To return to Gettysburg. On the night of the fourth, Lee 
began his melancholy retreat into Virginia. The crisis of the 
war was over. The star of the Confederacy had passed its 
zenith and had begun to sink.^ 

1 The conduct of Hancock's command in resistance nobly matched that of 
Pickett's in attack. The very high tide of combat was a dreadful hand-to-hand 
struggle across a low stone wall bordering a field. It was there that Armis- 
tead was killed. Near by, Hancock, lying wounded on the ground,, directed 
the Federal countercharge by which Pickett was driven back. 

2 While Grant was pushing down the Mississippi, General Banks was pushing 
north from New Orleans. The last Confederate post on the river, Port Hudson, 
was taken by Banks, July 9. Soon afterward steamers under the Federal flag 
went up and down the Mississippi between St. Louis and New Orleans. 

* Important campaigns took place during 1863-1864, west of the Mississippi. 
Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas at that time formed a sort of world to them- 
selves, cut off from the rest of the Confederacy. It was feared, at Washington, 
that Napoleon would take advantage of the situation to conquer Texas. Fed- 
eral troops were sent thither for the purpose of destroying the small Confederate 
forces left in that region. A naval expedition against Sabine Pass was a failure, 
and two gunboats surrendered. Galveston was attacked, and for the second 
time (section 622, note i) defended itself successfully. General Banks (Federal) 
attempted his "Red River expedition," while another Federal force, under 
General Steel, moved south from Arkansas. They were to unite at Shreveport, 
the military center west of the river. With Shreveport in Federal hands. Banks 
hoped to conquer Texas. His plan was foiled by General Kirby Smith and 
General Richard Taylor. The latter defeated Banks at Mansfield, April 8, 
1864; General Smith then drove back the forces of Steel. Smith kept on foot a, 
Confederate army in the western country until the end of the war. 



448 AMERICAN HISTORY 

V. THE CONFEDERATE RALLY 

630. Foreign Aid denied the South. After the fall of 
Vicksburg and Lee's return to Virginia, there was no longer 
any chance that the Confederacy would get aid from abroad.^ 
By this time, it was plain that the North was enormously 
richer and stronger than the South. Foreign powers that 
might have alhed themselves with the South, had it proved 
equal to holding its own, drew back when it was shown to be 
distinctly weaker than its gigantic opponent. 

From the moment Vicksburg surrendered the Confederate 
government stood alone in a vast circle of fire and steel. The 
rest of the world turned its back and left the South to its fate. 

631. The Confederacy Isolated. Furthermore, the fall of 
Vicksburg cut the connection between the eastern South 
and Texas. This disaster not only prevented the reenforce- 
ment of the eastern armies from Texas but shut oflf a most 
important source of supplies. Until then, suppHes and ammu- 
nition sent over from Europe could be landed in Mexico, 
taken across the Rio Grande into Texas, and thence for- 
warded to the armies in the east. By getting control of the 
Mississippi and cutting the Confederacy in two, Grant made 
this traffic so dangerous that most of it ceased. 

No supplies or ammunition could now come from 
Europe except through the blockade. Sea captains who 
eluded the Federal cruisers and brought supphes into Southern 
ports were known as " blockade runners." For a time the 
blockade nmners made large profits, but as the Federal war- 
ships became numerous, the risk of blockade running became 
enormous.^ Fewer and fewer captains were wilHng to take 

' The ironclads at Liverpool (section 627) were never delivered to the Con- 
federacy. When it was reported that they were about to go to sea, the American 
minister sent a note to the British foreign secretary in which were the significant 
words, " It would be superfluous for me to point out to your Lordship that this 
is war." 

^ If captured, the ships and cargo were confiscated. Some 1500 such ships 
were captured during the war. 



THE WAR 449 

the risk. At last blockade running ceased. With the 
Mississippi patrolled by Federal gunboats, with Federal 
cruisers watching all the southern coast, on three sides the 
Richmond government was securely shut off from the rest 
of the world. On the fourth side, from the Mississippi to 
the Potomac, stretched a formidable human wall composed 
of powerful Federal armies. 

632. Martial Law. Thus surrounded by enemies who 
greatly outnumbered its own forces, the Confederate govern- 
ment stood at bay. All considerations except military neces- 
sity were ignored. Whatever seemed desirable from a military 
point of view was done. Sometimes these war measures were 
in accord with the spirit of the Confederate constitution, 
sometimes not. For example : in the South, as in the North, 
the confusions of the time led to a suspension of the writ of 
habeas corpus} Also, in 1863, there were seizures of food 
supplies by government agents who themselves fixed the 
price to be paid.^ These, and similar measures, deeply of- 
fended the more conservative Southerners. They had gone 
into the secession movement honestly believing that America 
was suffering from too much government. They had a horror, 
inherited from Revolutionary times, of the least hint of des- 
potic authority. When President Davis, Uke President Lincoln, 
found that war created a need for despotic authority, the con- 
servatives could not be reconciled to his conclusions. Very 
bitterly they accused him of perverting the cause for which 
the South fought. 

633. The Southern Women. However, whether agreeing 
with Davis or not, the mass of the Southern people were 
wonderfully self-sacrificing in their support of the government. 
Their devotion increased as the situation became more hope- 
less and the men in the field were equaled by the women at 
home. It was the courage of the women and their abihty 

' For a good brief discussion, see Dodd," Jefferson Davis," 266-270, 291-302. 
2 For all such measures, see Schwab, "Confederate States," and "Cambridge 
Modem History," VII, 603-621. 



450 



AMERICAN HISTORY 




that made possible the continuance of the war. Except for 
their capable management of the plantations, their smiling 
endurance of hardships, their unfailing faith in the cause, the 
outnumbered and desperate armies would have lost heart. ^ 

634. The Confederacy 
Bankrupt. During the 
latter half of the war 
the Confederacy had no 
money. Enormous quan- 
tities of government notes 
had been issued, but as 
the government could not 
redeem them in gold or 
silver, they soon became 
worthless. All the good 
money which the South 
had at the opening of 
the war was sent abroad 
to purchase supplies, and 
practically none came 
back because of the diffi- 
culties in the way of send- 
ing cotton to Europe for 
sale. In i860 the South 
had sent abroad no less 
than 615,000 bales of cotton; in 1861, only 10,129 bales j^ 
and in spite of the blockade runners, the situation did not 
materially improve. In 1864 the business of exporting cotton 
may be said to have ceased. The Confederacy had spent its 
last dollar and was bankrupt.^ 

1 One of the most striking features of the war was the faithfulness of the 
negroes on the plantations. For the most part, they stayed quietly at work 
under the direction of the white women. There was no hint of a servile insurrec- 
tion. Many attended their masters to the front as servants. 

"^ See "Statistical Abstract of the United States : 1910," 538. 

' Prices rose enormously. At Richmond, late in the war, a barrel of flour 
cost a thousand dollars. 



■^idiUL. 



Jih 




MONUMENT TO THE WOMEN OF THE 
CONFEDERACY, COLUMBIA, S.C. 



THE WAR 451 

635. Chickamauga. There was left to the South nothing 
but the courage of its people. A brilliant episode in the 
history of American character is the rally made by the 
Southerners in the autumn of 1863. In this great rally the 
army of Bragg was conspicuous. It had shared in the mis- 
fortunes of that dreadful summer during which Rosecrans 
had slowly forced it backward into northern Georgia. Sep- 
tember came. On the nineteenth of the month, in a desperate 
attempt to break the spell of disaster that overhung the Con- 
federacy, Bragg threw himself upon Rosecrans at Chickamauga. 
The battle which 
raged that day and 
the next was one 
of the fiercest and 
bloodiest of the 
war." Rosecrans 
was defeated and 
driven back upon 







if- 




Chattanooga. rJut confederate currency 

Bragg was unable 

to make the most of his victory because of the firmness of a 
Federal general who had not until now had an opportunity 
to display his great qualities. This was General George H. 
Thomas. He commanded the Federal left wing which he 
skillfully interposed between the wrecked Federal center and 
Bragg. Though the Confederates outdid themselves in their 
efforts to break Thomas's line and thus destroy the whole 
force of their opponents, their furious charges were in vain.^ 
Thomas slowly withdrew and the Federal army was not 
destroyed. Nevertheless it was shut up m Chattanooga 
and there besieged. 

636. Chattanooga. At this critical moment Bragg felt 
called upon to send a part of his force under Long- 

* General Garfield, who was in the battle, said, "I never shall forget my 
amazement and admiration when I saw that grand officer holding his own, with 
utter defeat on each side and such wild disorder in his rear." 




452 AMERICAN HISTORY 

street ' into eastern Tennessee,^ which had been invaded by a 
Federal force commanded by Burnside. About the same time 
Rosecrans was superseded by Thomas, and Grant was given 
command of all the Federal armies of the west, October i6, 
1863. He immediately began a rapid concentration of troops 
in the direction of Chattanooga. So prompt and effective 
were his movements that the circle of the besiegers was quickly 
pierced, and supplies and reenforcements were brought into the 

city. Then followed the decisive 
battle of Chattanooga, November 
23-25, 1863. Bragg's army lay 
among the mountains south of the 
town, part on Lookout Mountain, 
part on Missionary Ridge. Thomas 
opened the battle by seizing the 
Confederate lines along the base of 
INlissionary Ridge. The next day 
the Ridge was taken by storm. On 
Lookout Mountain that same day 
occurred " the Battle above the 
GENER.\L GEORGE H. THOMAS Clouds," as it has bccn called, more 

poetically than correctly, and the 
Confederates were driven from their position at that end of 
the line. On the third day, in a great combined assault from 
three directions at once, the Federals drove Bragg's army off 
the summit of Missionary Ridge, and down the farther slope. 
Bragg retreated into Georgia. It was now out of the ques- 
tion for Longstreet to hold his own in east Tennessee. He 
gave up the attempt, made his way across the mountains, and 
rejoined Lee in Virginia. 

1 President Davis had recently sent Longstreet to the assistance of Bragg 
with troops drawn from the army of Lee. This was one of the few occa- 
sions when such a transfer from east to west was made by the Confederate 
government. 

2 The inhabitants of eastern Tennessee were mainly on the side of the Union. 
From the beginning of the war Lincoln had planned to send an armj' to assist 
them in opposing the Confederacy. He had not been able to do so until now. 



THE WAR 453 

All Tennessee thus passed under Federal control. The 
last aggressive movement of the Confederacy had ended in 
disaster.^ 

VI. THE CONQUEST OF THE SOUTH 

637. Strength of the North. With the opening of 1864, 
the last stage of the war began. The Federal government 
had on foot over a million men. The innumerable workshops 
of the North turned out daily vast supplies of arms, ammuni- 
tion, accouterments, for the use of the soldiers. In spite of 
the great number of men enlisted in the armies, there remained 
at home a sufficient number to till the fields and conduct 
business. The war had revealed the fact that the United 
States formed one of the richest and most powerful countries 
in the world. 

638. Weakness of the South. In contrast to the inexhaust- 
ible resources of the North, the Confederate resources had 
shrunk almost to nothing. Nor was the South able any longer 
to fill ths gaps made by battle in its wasted armies. Practi- 
cally all the able-bodied white men had been pressed into ser- 
vice. The North, on the contrary, had another miUion men 
it might call into the field if driven to do so. One cruel detail 
showed the superiority of the North in numbers. In the 
latter part of the war, the Federal government refused to ex- 
change prisoners and thousands of Federal soldiers were left 
in Southern prisons, in order to prevent the return to the Con- 
federacy of an equal number of captured Southerners. This 
was done in spite of the fact that both the Southern armies 
and their prisoners were in actual want of food. Grant ex- 
pressed the stern attitude of the Washington government when 
he said that if the prisoners gave up their lives in prison they 

1 A brilliant raid through Indiana and Ohio was made by General Morgan. 
It was designed as part of Bragg's campaign against Rosecrans. Though not 
successful, it is remembered as one of the few invasions of the free states by the 
Confederacy and also for the great dash and spirit with which it was executed. 
It ended, however, in the capture of Morgan and the destruction of his command. 



454 AMERICAN HISTORY 

would be doing only what was done by their comrades on the 
battlefield. 

639. Stanton. A terrible determination had become the 
keynote of the prosecution of the war. It was embodied by 
no one more completely than by the Federal secretary of war, 
Edwin M. Stanton/ a man of iron who had great executive 
ability. Under his able management, the vast resources of 
the North were fully utilized. The generals needed only to 
ask, and it was given both in men and money. 

640. Lincoln's Rule. Nevertheless there was strong oppo- 
sition to the war at the North. The Washington government 
had bitter pohtical enemies with whom it was continually 
forced to deal.^ In so doing, Lincoln used at times those 
extraordinary powers which Congress had given him (section 
623). Dangerous opponents of the government were cast into 
prison. " Peace meetings," in opposition to the government's 
poUcy, were broken up by force. 

Had Lincoln been a man of ordinary ambition, all this might 
have ended in the downfall of democratic government, and in 
no respect does his country owe more to him than for his cau- 
tious use of the autocratic power thrust by circumstances into 
his hands. In all ways it was Lincoln who was really the 
soul of the Federal government. His great, but mild, genius 
was at once the guide and harmonizer of all the grim men sur- 
rounding him. He was also their checkrein, for, unlike some 
of his associates, he never hated the South. The most re- 
markable feature of his character was inabiUty to bear malice, 
even toward the men with whom he was at war. Contrasted 
with the grim Stanton, he seems almost an embodiment of 
the gentle spirit of Christianity opposed to pagan hardness. 

' He succeeded Cameron in January, 1862. 

2 The opponents of the Rovernment were nicknamed "Copperheads." They 
were especially strong in Ohio and Indiana, where there were secret societies 
of them, such as the "Knights of the Golden Circle." A noted Ohio "Copper- 
head," Clement L. Vallandigham, was banished to the Confederacy by Lincoln. 
He was afterward nominated for governor by the Ohio Democrats, but was 
defeated. 



THE WAR 



455 



641. Grant in Supreme Command. The one Federal 
general who had been steadily successful was Grant, and in 
the spring of 1864 he was put at the head of all the Federal 
armies. He thereupon took direct command of the army of 
the Potomac, while the western army he intrusted to the man 
who had been his chief assistant in Tennessee, General William 
T. Sherman. 

A comprehensive scheme for closing in upon the South from 
all sides was now formed. Grant, with the army of the Poto- 
mac, planned to march from Wash- 
ington upon Richmond. Sherman 
made ready to advance from Ten- 
nessee into the heart of Georgia. 
A naval expedition under Farragut 
was designed to attack Mobile. 
On the east coast, the activity of 
the Atlantic fleet was to be re- 
doubled. 

To three out of these four coop- 
erating attacks, the Confederacy 
was powerless to oppose adequate 
resistance. So shrunken were its 
forces on the west, the south, and the east, that it was almost 
certain they would be overcome. Only in Virginia was 
there a powerful Southern army still equal to holding 
its own. There, with the vast ring of steel slowly clos- 
ing around him, was Lee and his famous army of northern 
Virginia. 

642. The Battles in the Wilderness. In May, 1864, Lee's 
army lay intrenched in the neighborhood of Fredericksburg, 
on the south side of the Rapidan River, with its right flank 
protected by a region of wood and thick undergrowth known as 
the " Wilderness." 

On May 4, 1864, Grant crossed the Rapidan. His plan was 
to force his way through the " Wilderness," turn Lee's right 
flank, and cut him off from Richmond. He had some 120,000 




GENERAL SHERMAN 



456 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



men while Lee had but 60,000.^ Lee, however, fought behind 
intrenchments, and had the advantage of what soldiers call 
the " interior line " ; that is, Grant, working round Lee's 
flank, had to describe an arc of a circle, while Lee could move 
on a straight line from one extremity of the curve to the other. 

With the crossing of the Rap- 
idan began a series of desper- 
ate battles. The two armies, 
struggling as in a death grapple, 
moved gradually southeastward. 
Though Lee was forced nearer 
and nearer to Richmond, Grant 
continually failed to get be- 
tween him and the Confederate 
capital. The reckless valor of 
the Federals in assault, the 
steadfast heroism of the Con- 
federates in defense make this 
campaign one of the sternest 
episodes of military history. 
Its agony culminated at Cold 
Harbor, where Grant made a 
tremendous attack all along his 
line only to be repulsed with frightful slaughter. 

In close cooperation with Grant, two other Federal armies 
had invaded Virginia. General Butler with 40,000 men ad- 
vanced along the James River, while General Hunter led a 
force of 20,000 men into the "Valley of Virginia " ^ — the 
western portion of the state, where Jackson conducted his 

' There is difference of opinion as to the size of the armies. Colonel Liver- 
more, U.S.A., estimates Grant's force at 115,000 and Lee's at 70,000 (Report 
of Am. Hist. Ass., igo8, 1, 244). Major Eben Swift, of the general staff U.S.A., 
estimates Grant's strength at 100,000 men with 316 cannon, Lee's at 54,000 
men with 224 cannon (same volume page 236). General Alexander, C.S..\., 
thinks Grant opened the campaign with some 103,000 men, while Lee had but 
64,000 men ("Military Memoirs of a Confederate," 496). The English students, 
Wood and Edmunds, attribute to Grant a strength of 121,000 men; to Lee 
"over 60,000" ("The Civil War in the United States," 311-313). 




WILDERNESS CAMPAIGN 




ULYSSES S. GkAN T 



THE WAR 



457 



amazing campaign in 1862. The purpose of these lesser in- 
vasions was to compel Lee to detach portions of his army for 
the defense of Richmond, which was now menaced both from 
the southeast and the northwest. Thus Lee was prevented 
from massing his entire force in front of Grant during the 
struggle of the Wilderness, and so the disparity of their armies 
was increased. Nevertheless, while Lee held Grant in check/ 
the two subordinate attacks were repulsed. Butler was " bottled 
up," as the saying is, on a peninsula 
of southeastern Virginia. Hunter 
was driven from " the Valley." 

Grant now changed his plan. 
By a great detour, he crossed the 
James River and put his army 
south of Richmond. He intended 
to take Petersburg, cut Lee off 
from his source of supplies in the 
far South, and thus force him to 
abandon Richmond. 

643. The Countermove against 
Washington. Lee attempted to 
divert him by sending a force under 
General Early to threaten Washington. Early made a bold 
raid across the Potomac, and appeared before the forts which 
protected the Union capital. It is thought by some critics that 
with a little more promptness he might have taken the city. 
The arrival of Federal reenforcements obhged him to retreat, 
and before long the energetic Federal cavalryman. General 
Sheridan,^ turned the tables. Early was driven back into 

1 The Wilderness, May 5-6 ; Spottsylvania, May 8-i 2 ; North Anna, May 23- 
26; Cold Harbor, June 1-3. These were general engagements. There were 
also important actions conducted by portions of the armies. In one of these, 
Yellow Tavern, May 11, General J. E. B. Stuart lost his life. 

'^ In connection with the battle of Cedar Creek (October 19), occurred the 
picturesque incident known as "Sheridan's Ride." In Sheridan's absence the 
Confederates attacked his army and were driving it back, when he appeared on 
the field, having galloped twenty miles. The tide was turned and the battle 
ended as a Federal victory. 




GENERAL PHILIP H. SHERIDAN 



458 



AMERICAN HISTORY 




southern Virginia, and the eastern forces of both sides were 
concentrated around Petersburg. Haxing failed to take it by 
storm. Grant was now besieging it. This siege is second in 
fame only to the siege of Vicksburg. It was pressed during 
many months with unflagging determination, the besieged 
resisting with that reckless courage which had everywhere be- 
come the order of the day. 

644. Contemporaneous Western Events. It must be re- 
membered that all the Federal advances in 1S64 began about 

the same time — early in the 
spring. While Grant was forcing 
his way through the '* Wilderness," 
Sherman was forcing his way across 
northern Georgia. The com- 
mander opposed to him was now 
Joseph E. Johnston, who had suc- 
ceeded Bragg as chief Confederate 
commander in the West. Though he 
had not enough men for a pitched 
battle, Johnston skillfully obstructed 
Sherman, while slowly retreating 
GESERAL HOOD b^foj-g ^^^^1 j^ j^iy johnston had 

fallen back to Atlanta, where, at last, he intended to risk a 
battle. At this critical moment President Da\'is removed 
Johnston on the ground that he was too backward in fighting. 
The command of the Confederate forces in Georgia was now 
given to General Hood. Hood went to the other extreme. He 
attacked Sherman, more boldly than wisely, and was repulsed 
with great loss. On September 2 Sherman entered Atlanta. 

645. Hood's Misunderstanding of Sherman. Ha\Tng failed 
to keep Sherman out of Atlanta, Hood conceived the idea 
of cutting off his communications with Tennessee. With 
that end in view, he marched northwestward, thinking Sher- 
man would follow him. But Sherman cared nothing about 
his conmiunications. He meant to find support for his army 

* Once Sherman dosed with him at Kenesaw Mountain and was repulsed. 



THE WAR 



459 



in the country through which he passed and also to render that 
country useless to his enemies. His march through Georgia 
was a blow at Lee, quite as much as Grant's march through 
Virginia. While Grant hammered at Lee's front, Sherman 
swept the country at his back clean of supplies. Therefore, 
Sherman gave no further attention to Hood. Thomas was in 
Tennessee, and it should be Thomas's business to deal with 
Hood. Thomas did so. In the battle of Nashville (Decem- 
ber 15-16) Hood's army was destroyed. 

646. Sherman's March to the Sea. Meanwhile Sherman 
turned eastward. 




SHERMAN'S MARCH 



The characteristic of this remarkable strategist was a terrible 
relentlessness of purpose, as appeared when he commanded 
the whole population of Atlanta to quit their homes and find 
shelter where they could, because the conqueror wished to 
convert their city into '' a pure military garrison with no 
civil population to influence military measures " (September 
1 2) . Two months later he burned Atlanta to the ground and 
set out on his now celebrated " March to the Sea " (November 
16). As he began in Atlanta, so he continued. His march 
was a stupendous act of desolation. Behind him stretched 



460 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



a black trail of ruined fields and burned houses. In December 
he took Savannah and opened connection with the Federal 
fleet on the Atlantic.^ 

647. Contemporaneous Events in the Far South. Mean- 
while Farragut had won the battle of Mobile Bay (August 5), 

had destroyed the forts protecting 
the approach to Mobile, and begun 
the siege of the city. With the 
isolation of Mobile, followed by 
the surrender of Savannah, there 
v;ere left to the Confederacy only 
two seaports of importance — ■ 
Charleston and Wilmington. Both 
were closely watched "by powerful 
Federal llccts.- 
648. Federal Election of 1864. 
ADMIRAL FARRAGUT In the midst of these dreadful 
events was held the Federal national election of 1864. Lin- 
coln had been renominated by a convention composed of 
all parties supporting the war. Many of its members were 
** Union Democrats," and for that reason the candidate for 
vice president was a Democrat, Andrew Johnson of Tennessee. 
The platform, which promised a vigorous prosecution of the 
war, pledged the government to pay in full the large war 
debt which the administration had contracted.^ The regu- 
lar Democratic convention^ nominated McClellan. Lincoln 




' Here is Sherman's own account of his march : " .As I anticipated, fire and 
smoke and complete destruction marked our pathway. . . . Not a thing has 
been left to cat in many cases ; not a horse, or an ox, or a mule, to work with. . . . 
It was not the intention of the commanding officers that the poor people should 
thus be stripped. But unprincipled stragglers . . . show no mercy or heart." 

- Another Confederate disaster was the sinking of the Alabama by the Federal 
warship Kearsarge, olT the coast of France, June 19, 1864. 

'The debt of the United States was increased from $90,000,000 in 1S61 to 
nearly $3,000,000,000 in 1866. See Dewey, "Financial History," 290-330. 

*The Democrats had no platform except opposition to Lincoln. They de- 
clared the war to have been "four years of failure." McClellan in his letter of 
acceptance repudiated this assertion. 



THE WAR 461 

electors were chosen by every state which took part in the 
election ^ except New Jersey, Delaware, and Kentucky. At 
last there was no doubt about the strength of the Lincoln 
administration. At the opening of 1865 it addressed itself, 
with renewed spirit, to the task of swiftly crushing the Con- 
federacy. 

649. Military Situation at the Opening of 1865. On New 
Year's Day, 1865, the region held by the Richmond govern- 
ment had shrunk to less than three states — the two Caroilnas 
and Virginia. In this region only two Confederate armies 
still kept the field. ^ The army of northern Virginia, terribly 
wasted and half starved, still stood between Grant and Rich- 
mond. In the Carolinas a considerable force had been brought 
together under the command of Sherman's old antagonist, 
Johnston. There were still Confederate garrisons at Charles- 
ton and Wilmington. But all these forces were insignificant 
compared to the mighty hosts opposed to them. Their con- 
dition, too, formed a sad contrast. Ragged, hungry, and with 
insufficient ammunition, they confronted veterans perfectly 
equipped. 

650. Lee. Except for the genius of Lee the war probably 
would have ended the previous year. His great figure was the 
center of that fearful ring of warriors closing so relentlessly 
about Richmond. He, at last, was the aim of all the Federal 
movements. Even the most remote undertakings had their 
share in making Lee's situation unendurable. Federal ad- 
mirals along the coast, Sherman in Georgia, all were seeking 
to cut off his sources of supply and bring his army to the point 
of starvation. Close to him in front, the splendid army under 
Grant thundered against his lines, and every cannon shot 
told the great captain that his hour was almost come. But 

' Since i860 three new states had been added to the Union, — Kansas, West 
Virginia, and Nevada. Lincoln received 212 electoral votes; McClellan, 21. 
However, Lincoln's popular vote was but 2,330,552 against 1,835,985 for 
McClellan. See Stanwood, "History of the Presidency," 307. 

2 West of the Mississippi, Kirby Smith (section 629, note) continued his 
independent operations. 



462 AMERICAN HISTORY 

his genius never failed him, his courage did not falter ; nor was 
there any wavering in the love and confidence of his soldiers. 
Among the great men of history, few have inspired such de- 
voted obedience, or have impressed others with such absolute 
confidence in their loyalty to their ideals. His great opponent, 
to whom he finally surrendered, said of Lee, " I knew there was 
no use to urge him to do anything against his ideas of what 
was right." 

651i General Convergence toward Richmond. The opera- 
tions of 1865 were opened by a seaboard invasion of North 
Carolina. Fort Fisher was taken, and the Confederates were 
compelled to withdraw from Wilmington. About the same 
time a northern movement by Sherman compelled the evacua- 
tion of Charleston, which was at once occupied by Federal 
troops.^ South Carohna was now devastated by Sherman, 
who burnt and ravaged with the same cold thoroughness that 
he had shown in Georgia.- The work of devastation filled 
the month of February.^ Johnston with his small army was 

* Charleston was under siege during most of the war. Several attacks upon 
the city were gallantly repelled. Perhaps the greatest interest of the long siege 
attaches to the Confederate attempts to construct serviceable submarine boats. 
Crews of volunteers lost their lives in repeated experiments, none of which 
entirely succeeded. 

2 The most terrible incident of this march was the burning of Columbia, 
February 17. Unlike the burning of Atlanta the destruction of Columbia has 
produced a controversy. Sherman denied that he ever gave orders to destroy 
the city. His defenders insist that the fire was accidental. On the other hand, 
the recollections of numbers of eye witnesses are inconsistent with such an ex- 
planation. General Howard, U. S. A., reported that "some escaped prisoners, 
convicts from the penitentiary just broken open, army followers, and drunken 
soldiers ran through house after house and were doubtless guilty of all manner 
of villainies, and it is these men that I presume set new lires farther and farther 
to the windward in the northern part of the city." General Logan, U. S. A., 
said in an official report: "The scenes in Columbia that night were terrible. 
Some fiend first applied the torch and the wild flames leaped from house to 
house and street to street until the lower and business part of the city was 
wrapped in flames. Frightened citizens rushed in every direction and the reeling 
incendiaries dashed, torch in hand, from street to street spreading dismay whcre- 
ever they went." These reports of Federal generals, made at the time, are 
confirmed by similar testimony given by citizens of Columbia. 

'During February took place the famous "Hampton Roads Conference." 



THE WAR 463 

powerless to prevent it. During March he fell slowly back 
across North CaroHna, with Sherman following. 

652. The Last Stand in Virginia. Meanwhile the siege 
of Petersburg was nearing its end. The army of northern 
Virginia had shrunk to a comparatively few thousand men. 
Grant and Sherman were closing about Lee with irresistible 
power and each day the effort to provision his forces became 
more distressing.. At the opening of April it was plain that 
the end was near. On the second of April, Lee withdrew 
from Petersburg, abandoned Richmond, and retreated toward 
Danville. His army was hterally starving, and wherever he 
turned he was met by great numbers of foemen. 

653. The Surrender. At last, on April 9, at Appomattox 
Court House, he surrendered his whole army to Grant. The 
meeting of the generals to arrange the surrender is well de- 
scribed in the words of the victor : " What General Lee's 
feelings were I do not know, for he was a man of great dignity, 
with an impassible face. . . . They were entirely concealed 
from my observation. . . . My own feelings were sad and 
depressed. I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the 
downfall of a foe who had fought so long and so valiantly, 
and had suffered so much. . . . We fell into conversation 
about old army times. . . . After our conversation had run 
on for some time in this style. General Lee called my atten- 
tion to the object of our meeting — the terms I proposed to 
give his army — I said that I meant merely that his army 
should lay down their arms, and not to take them up again 
during the continuance of the war, unless duly and properly 
exchanged." 

Grant further allowed all soldiers to retain their horses, 
and all officers to retain their swords. When his soldiers, 
hearing of the surrender, began firing a salute, he ordered it 

Lincoln and Seward met vice president Stephens of the Confederacy on a steamer 
in Hampton Roads. It was an informal attempt to treat for peace. But as 
Lincoln would not consider any terms except a restoration of the Union, and as 
Stephens had no authority to promise its restoration, the conference came to 
nothing. 



464 AMERICAN HISTORY 

stopped. In his own words, " The Confederates were now our 
prisoners and we did not want to exult over their downfall." 
The surrendered army numbered 26,765 men. It had no food 
except parched corn. Grant at once supplied it with rations. 

On the twenty-sixth of the month, Johnston surrendered 
to Sherman on the same terms. 

Shortly afterwards, President Davis was captured by Fed- 
eral cavalry near Irwinvillc, Georgia.^ 

But even then the war was not quite at an end. The army 
of Kirby Smith (section 629, note) still kept the field and it 
was in Texas that the last actual fighting took place, May 13. 
Smith's surrender closed the war, May 26, 1865.^ 

Selections from the Sources. The source material for the great war 
is so voluminous, and in the main so accessible, that the student is over- 
whelmed by an embarrassment of riches. First of all, there is the enor- 
mous publication of the United States government, to be found in all 
public libraries. Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Personal 
narratives have been published by many of the most noted generals, 
though Lee and Jackson are unfortunately missing from the list. Among 
memoirs those of Grant and Sherman arc of first importance on the 
Federal side; on the Confederate, it is harder to select, but there can 
be no doubt that special value attaches to those of Longstreet, Johnston, 
Gordon, R. Taylor, and E. P. Alexander. The series of brief treatises by 
participants known as Battles and Leaders may be classed as source 
material. Of great value are such personal observations as those of 
ScHURZ, Reminiscences, II, chaps, i, ii, iv ; Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's 
Diary; Russell, My Diary North and South; IVIcCulloch, Men 
and Measures, chaps, xv-xvii ; Sherman (John), Recollections, I, 
chaps, xii, xiii; Mrs. Chestnut, Diary from Dixie; Mrs. Pryor, 
Reminiscences of Peace and War; Mrs. Livermore, My Story of the 
War; Pollard, Lost Cause; Hart, Contemporaries, IV, Nos. 49-140. 
For the administration of Lincoln, see Messages and Papers of the Presi- 
dents, VI, 5-297, and the invaluable Diary of Secretary Welles, vols. I 

1 When Lee abandoned Petersburg, Davis and his cabinet withdrew to Dan- 
ville ; thence the president with a few attendants made his way south hoping 
to escape out of the country. 

i^On May i, 1865, the Union forces numbered 1,052,038 men. The total 
number of Confederates who surrendered was 174,223. See quotations from 
Ofladal Records in Rhodes, "History of the United SUtes," V, 185. 



THE WAR 465 

and II. For the Confederate administration, the first authority to con- 
sider is, of course. President Davis's Confederate Government, which should 
be supplemented by Messages and Papers of the Confederacy. The 
Journals of the Confederate Congress have been published by the United 
States government. The last authority for the action of the Federal 
Congress is the Congressional Globe. On foreign affairs, see Moore, 
Digest of International Law, section 860, and the whole of chaps, xxvi- 
xxviii, in particular sections 1256-1262, 1265, 1271, 1310, 1330. A 
brief collection of Federal documents is in Macdonald, Select Statutes, 
11-43 ; see also Johnston, Readings, 454-505. 

Maps. War Atlas (to accompany Official Records). 

Secondary Accounts. Ropes, Story of the Civil War; Henderson, 
Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War; Nicolay and Hay, 
Abraham Lincoln; a History; Mahan, Critical History of the American 
War; Pollard, Southern History of the War; Wood and Edmonds, 
Civil War in the United States; Formby, American Civil War ; Schouler, 
History, VI; Wilson, American People, IV, 210-286, and Division and 
Reunion, 208-252 ; Burgess, Civil War and Constitution, I, chaps, viii- 
xi ; II ; Rhodes, History, III, IV, V ; Dewey, Financial History, chaps, 
xii, xiii; Davis, Origin of the National Banking System; Foster, 
Century of American Diplomacy, chap, x; Callahan, Diplomatic His- 
tory of the Southern Confederacy ; Adams, C. F. Adams, 144-357 ; Bige- 
low, France and the Confederate Navy ; Fite, Social and Lndustrial Con- 
ditions in the North; _ Schwab, Confederate States; Stanwood, Presidency, 
298-312; American Statesmen Series, lives of Lincoln, Seward, Chase, 
Sumner, Stevens ; American Crisis Biographies, lives of Davis, Stephens, 
Benjamin, Toombs; Bradford, Lee, the American; Bruce, Robert E. 
Lee; Fitzhugh Lee, Memoirs of General Lee; Edmontjs, Ulysses S. 
Grant; Wilson, General Grant. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. Attempts to prevent War. 2. The 
Progress of Secession. 3. Military Events previous to Manassas. 
4. The Trent Affair. 5. Disposition of the Armies, April i, 1862. 
6. Regions held by the Confederates, April i, 1863. 7. The War West 
of the Mississippi. 8. Finances of the Union, g. Finances of the 
Confederacy. 10. England's Policy during the War. 11. Maximilian. 
12. The Anti-War Party in the North. 13. Gettysburg. 14. Vicks- 
burg. 15. Condition of the Confederacy, April i, 1864. 16. The Cam- 
paign of the Wilderness. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

RECONSTRUCTION 
I. THE PRESIDENTIAL PROGRAM 

654. The Real Nationalism. Long before Lee's surrender 
it had become plain that the South was exhausted, that the 
downfall of the Confederacy was only a matter of time. As 
the victory of his party became assured, Lincoln showed his 
true greatness. He also proved himself a genuine nationahst. 
Too many of his party had unconsciously, in the heat and bit- 
terness of the war, put their nationalism aside. They had 
become sectional in spirit. They were now thinking and act- 
ing as Northerners, no longer as lovers of a united nation. 
As Northerners, many of them yielded to the temptation to 
desire revenge upon the South. The soldiers in the field were, 
as a rule, free from this spirit, but in the politicians at Wash- 
ington it threatened to become rampant. They failed to per- 
ceive which problems confronting them were really of first 
importance from the nationahstic point of view. Lincoln 
made no such mistake. He saw that the worst thing which 
could happen to the United States as a whole would be the 
continuance of sectional bitterness after the close of the 
fighting ; that the next most disastrous thing would be the 
general impoverishment of one whole section, the South ; 
and that the third disaster would be a failure to keep in good 
order the multitude of recently emancipated negroes.^ Being 

1 The Emancipation Proclamation did not abolish slavery. It merely set 
free certain slaves. The number thus freed was so great that any continuance 
of the institution was rendered impossible. Slavery was formally abolished 
by the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which was proposed by 
Congress early in 1865, and declared in force, December 18, 1865. It had been 
approved in the course of the year by twenty-seven out of the thirty-six states. 
Of these, eleven had been slave-holding states in i860. (See section 658.) 

466 



RECONSTRUCTION 467 

the real statesman of nationalism, he set about preventing 
these three catastrophes to his country and his cause. 

655. The Four Hundred Millions. In February, 1865, 
Lincoln made his first move toward healing the wounds in- 
flicted upon the country by the war. He proposed to his cabi- 
net to send a message to Congress asking it to appropriate 
four hundred milHon dollars to be paid to the slave states as 
a compensation on condition that war cease by April i. The 
cabinet, however, though it contained some liberal men, 
unanimously disapproved of the scheme.^ 

Says Lincoln's private secretary : " The President, in 
evident surprise and sorrow at the want of statesmanlike 
liberality shown by his executive council, folded and laid away 
the draft of his message. ... It is fair to infer that, even 
after this, he still clung to the hope that an opportunity 
might arise when he might make some such good-will offering 
to the South." ^ He continued pondering this great question. 
Meanwhile Lee surrendered, April 9. On the night of April 
II Lincoln made his last public address. In the course of 
it he said : "In the present situation, as the phrase goes, 
it may be my duty to make some new announcement to the 
people of the South. I am considering, and shall not fail to 
act when action will be proper." 

656. Assassination of Lincoln. Three days later Lincoln 
was assassinated by an half-crazed fanatic, John Wilkes Booth. 
The President was shot through the head while sitting in his 
box at Ford's Theater. That same night there was an un- 
successful attempt to assassinate the secretary of state, 

^"February 6, Monday, there was a Cabinet meeting last evening. The 
President had matured a scheme which he hoped would be successful in promot- 
ing peace. It was a proposition for paying the expenses of the war for two 
hundred days, or four hundred millions, to the rebel states, to be for the extin- 
guishment of slavery or for such purpose as the states were disposed. . . . It did 
not meet with favor, but was dropped. The earnest desire of the President 
to conciliate and make peace was manifest." "Diary of Gideon Welles," secre- 
tary of the navy. III, 237. 

2 John G. Nicolay, in "Cambridge Modern History," VII, 601. 



468 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Seward. Booth was killed while attempting to escape, but 
several persons charged with being accomplices were appre- 
hended and hanged. 

657. The Successor of Lincoln. As Congress was not in 
session, the entire direction of affairs devolved upon Lincoln's 
successor, the vice-president, Andrew Johnson of Tennessee. 
This was a calamity. Though well meaning, Johnson was 
coarse and rude, without a particle of Lincoln's genius for 
managing men. Even for Lincoln, the task of curbing the spirit 
of revenge bred by the war would have been hard enough. 
Possibly, even he might not have been able to do so. When 
the news of his assassination spread over the North, the situa- 
tion was made infinitely more difficult. Numbers of people 
who had hitherto dealt with the matter dispassionately were 
carried away by the fury of the new sectionalism that was 
clamoring for revenge upon the South as a whole. They 
listened to wild stories which entirely perverted the truth 
about the assassination. Instead of regarding it as it was — 
the crazed act of one or two visionaries — they were ready 
now to think of it as part of a deliberate conspiracy showing 
an irreconcilable temper in the Southern people. In the face 
of such wild excitement there was need of a President of judg- 
ment and dehcacy who should stand firm by Lincoln's policy 
and yet calm the feelings of his own party. As we shall see, 
Johnson was the last man for such a situation. 

658. The New Governments of 1865. Johnson issued an am- 
nesty proclamation offering full restoration of civil rights to all 
ex-Confederates except certain enumerated groups,^ on condi- 
tion that they should take an oath of allegiance to the United 
States. He appointed provisional governors and directed 
them to call conventions of those people who took the oath, 

* Various classes of high officials were excepted, also all persons who had left 
the service of the United States to enter the service of the Confederacy, and all 
persons who owned property in excess of $20,000. Individuals of the exempted 
groups might, however, make application to the President for executive pardon, 
which the proclamation hinted would be "liberally extended." 



RECONSTRUCTION 



469 



and to organize state governments.^ Such governments 
were rapidly formed. Though made up largely of ex-Confed- 
erates, they frankly accepted the situation and set to work 
to make the best of it. Most of them in the course of 1865 
ratified the Thirteenth Amendment (section 654, note). These 
ratifications gave the amendment the required number and 
it became law. By the end of the year every Southern state 




MAP SHOWING HOW THE SLAVES WERE EMANCIPATED 



had a reconstructed civil government which had been rec- 
ognized by the President, with the one exception of Texas. ^ 
A definite problem confronted these new governments. In 
every Southern state there were many thousand negroes who 
had been thrown suddenly upon their own responsibility. 
They had always been accustomed to have their lives directed 

^ As early as December, 1863, Lincoln had proposed a scheme of reconstruc- 
tion. Whenever in any seceded state 10 per cent of the voters of i860 should 
take an oath of allegiance to the United States, they should be empowered to 
organize a new state government. This plan was denounced by extremists in 
Congress, and in the spring of 1864 a bill was passed giving Congress entire 
control of the whole matter of reconstruction. Lincoln refused to sign it. 

2 Upon the formation of a civil government by Texas, Johnson officially 
proclaimed the "insurrection" at an end, August 20, 1866. 



470 AMERICAN HISTORY 

for them by others. They had little or no property. Their 
former owners, impoverished by the war, were seldom able 
to give them work. How to adapt these people to their 
changed conditions was the first and most exacting problem 
of the new state governments. Though these governments had 
endorsed emancipation by ratifying the Thirteenth Amend- 
ment, the men who composed them had a lively dread of what 
might happen now if the negroes should prove unmanageable. 
Therefore, several Southern states passed vagrancy laws for 
the purpose of empowering the authorities to control negroes 
who should show a disposition to avoid work and become 
tramps. 

In December, 1865, these reconstructed state governments 
sent their representatives to Washington to be admitted to 
Congress. However, the Constitution declares that each 
House of Congress " shall be the judge of the election returns, 
and quahfications of its own members." The question of 
the moment was : will the Houses admit the senators and 
representatives chosen by the reconstructed states ? 

n. THE CONTEST BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT AND 
CONGRESS 

659. Politics in 1865. It must be remembered that in 186 1 
the Northern Democrats had divided into two factions, the 
" War Democrats " and the " Copperheads " (section 640, 
note). The War Democrats combined with the Republicans 
to form the temporary " Union " party by which Lincoln 
was elected the second time. Now that the war was over, 
the Union party began to break up into factions. There was 
the greatest uncertainty as to how the parties would eventually 
rearrange themselves, for though the majority of Northerners 
in 1865 called themselves Republicans, the name covered 
several distinct groups. 

One of these groups was distinguished by its stern temper. 
It contained the men who best exemplified that new sectional- 



RECONSTRUCTION 471 

ism from which Lincoln and the broad-minded Republicans 
were free (section 654). Its members were known as " Radi- 
cals." Into this group went all the extremists who were 
now clamoring for revenge upon the South, also the aboli- 
tionists with their violent demands in behalf of the freed- 
men.^ 

One of the ablest and most bitter of the Radicals was 
Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania.^ Previous to the war he 
had been an extreme aboHtionist. He was animated now by 
two main purposes. He wished to take the utmost revenge 
upon the South and also to build up a political machine that 
should be able to dominate the Republican party and through 
it control the country. Politically, the chief matter in Ameri- 
can national affairs, during the next ten years, was the effort 
of Stevens and other Radical leaders to get control of the Re- 
publican party. Their temporary success and their eventual 
defeat we shall now observe. 

660. The New Governments Rejected. The Congress 
which met at the end of 1865 was jealous of the President for 
having reconstructed the state governments without calling 
it together to take part in the work. It promptly refused to 
admit any representative or senators from any of the " States 
which have been declared to be in rebellion . . . until Con- 
gress shall have declared such states entitled to such represen- 
tation." It also appointed a joint committee of both Houses 
to which were to be referred all questions of when, and under 
what conditions, a state was to be readmitted to representa- 
tion in Congress. 

^ This is the ancient term to describe a slave who has been set free. 

2 "Stevens was one of the best debaters that ever sat in Congress but he was 
absolutely one-sided and thought everybody on the other side a scoundrel. He 
was strongly in favor of emancipation not so much to help the slaves as to hurt 
the slaveholders ; and he insisted on enlisting negroes in the army for he said : 
'The only place where they can find equality is in the grave. There all God's 
children are equal ' ; and he favored negro suffrage explicitly on the ground 
that it would 'continue the Republican ascendency.' " Professor A.B.Hart, 
" Essentials of American History," 496. 



472 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



661. The Conflict within the Republican Party. The 

conflict between the Radicals and the Liberal RepubUcans ^ 
now began. The Radicals, led by Stevens, demanded practi- 
cally the exclusion of all ex-Confederates from the government 
of their states. They wished immediately to give the negroes 
the vote. In sharp contrast, the clear-sighted RepubUcans 
urged that the interests of all parties and all sections — both 
the blacks and the whites, both the North and the South — 
demanded that the race problem be left to the Southern people 
to be adjusted gradually. The leading Federal generals, 
almost without exception, favored such a course. Even the 
former aboKtionist, Henry Ward Beecher, said in a sermon 
toward the close of 1865 : "All measures instituted under the 
act of emancipation for the blacks in order to be permanently 
useful must have the cordial consent of the wise and good 
citizens of the South ... the kindness of the white man in 
the South is more important to the negroes than all the poli- 
cies of the nation put together." In January, 1866, John A. 
Andrew, the illustrious governor of Massachusetts during 
the war, made a closing address to the Massachusetts legis- 
lature. Speaking of what ought to be done in the South, he 
said : " I am confident we cannot reorganize poUtical society 
with any security: (i) unless we let in the people to a co- 
operation and not merely an arbitrarily selected portion of 
them ; (2) unless we give those, who are by their intelligence 
and character the natural leaders of the people, and who will 
surely lead them by-and-by, an opportunity to lead them 
now." Andrew understood just how things actually were in 
the South, and he knew that the course he advocated would 
put the control of the Southern states into the hands of ex- 
Confederates who would almost certainly act with the Demo- 
crats. But Andrew thought of his country first and his party 
second. Stevens, on the contrary, thought of his party first. 

' During several years there were practically two Republican parties (see 
section 668, note 3). The Liberal wing of the "Union" party (section 659) 
formed the political group known as Liberal Republicans, or merely " Liberals." 



RECONSTRUCTION 473 

662. The Radicals in Congress. In the early part of 1866 
there was a bitter contention between Congress and the 
President as to their respective rights. The President ex- 
pressed his views in coarse and insulting ways. Certain 
extremists in the South also talked rashly, leading some ex- 
citable Northerners to think there might be another war. 
One thing with another enabled Stevens to bring the whole 
Republican membership in Congress into line under the 
leadership of the Radicals. As two thirds of both Houses 
were Repubhcans, they could, whenever they acted together, 
pass any bill they pleased over the President's veto. Under 
Stevens's lead they began using their power in the spring of 
1866. They passed over the veto a Civil Rights Bill, which 
made the freedmen citizens ^ of the United States with prac- 
tically all political rights except the right to vote. They 
also passed over the veto a bill which gave extensive authority 
to the Freedmen's Bureau. This bureau was to take general 
charge of the freedmen, provide them with land at small cost, 
use the property of the late Confederate government for their 
education, and see that they were not molested. 

663. The Fourteenth Amendment. However, the most 
important act of this session was the Fourteenth Amendment 
to the Constitution, which passed both Houses and was sub- 
mitted to the states for ratification in June, 1866. It con- 
tained four propositions : (i) the negroes were declared citi- 
zens ; (2) representation in Congress was made proportional 
to the voters in a state ; ^ (3) all ex-Confederates who had 
left the service of the United States to take service under the 
Confederacy were excluded from holding office under the 
United States unless declared eligible to do so by a two-thirds 

1 Hitherto they had had the standing of foreigners resident in the United 
States. So much had been secured to them by the Thirteenth Amendment. 
The movement to make them citizens with the right to bring suit, to make 
contracts, etc., brought about the Fourteenth Amendment. The ballot was 
not given them until the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment. 

2 This provision was designed to induce the Southern states to make the 
negroes voters, as, otherwise, their representation in Congress would be reduced. 



474 AMERICAN HISTORY 

vote of both Houses of Congress ; (4) the debt of the United 
States was guaranteed, but the states were forbidden to as- 
sume the Confederate debt, and claims for remuneration for 
the loss of slaves were pronounced illegal. 

664. The Terms of Congressional Recognition. The Presi- 
dent sent a vehement message to Congress protesting against 
the amendment. Congress disregarded it. The Radicals 
then made known the terms on which they would recognize 
a state as reconstructed and entitled to representation in Con- 
gress. This was done by their action in the case of Tennessee. 
There the legislature was under Radical influences and the 
amendment was ratified. Immediately, Congress passed a 
joint resolution stating that because of this ratification and 
" other acts proclaiming and denoting loyalty " Tennessee 
was again entitled to representation in Congress (July 24, 
1866). 

665. The Appeal to the People. Both the President and his 
enemies now appealed to the people to decide which faction 
should control the new Congress to be elected in the autumn 
of 1866. The Radicals argued chiefly from such matters as 
the Southern vagrancy laws and of certain lamentable cases 
of violence which had recently occurred in the South. We 
know, to-day, that the violence of the time was stirred up by 
the lowest class of Southerners and by unscrupulous Northern 
adventurers who had gone South to make their fortunes and 
were seeking to embitter the negroes against their former 
masters. At the time, these facts were not known. Neither 
did Northerners understand the object of the vagrancy laws. 
When Stevens and his followers insisted that those laws and 
the recent disturbances were evidence that the South was not 
candid in appearing to accept the new conditions, too many 
people believed them. Many who were Liberals at heart — 
who before long regretted their course — were carried away 
by the Radical argument and voted that year for Radical 
congressmen. Furthermore, the Liberal cause was greatly 
injured by the action of the President. He made a tour 



RECONSTRUCTION 



475 



through the country, speaking at many places. Were it not 
amply proven, we could scarcely believe that a President of 
the United States could ever have used such coarse, illiterate, 
abusive language as Johnson poured forth in speech after 
speech. His low vituperation of Congress lost him friends 
wherever he went. The Democrats also helped the Radicals 
by failing to make common cause with the Liberal Republicans. 
Says Secretary Welles, in reviewing the campaign in his diary 
for November 17, 1866 : " The fall elections have passed and 




the Radicals retain their strength in Congress. False issues 
have prevailed. . , . Passion, prejudice, hate of the South, 
the whole South, were the Radical (program) for reestab- 
lishing the Union. . . . The Democrats, with equal folly and 
selfishness, strove to install their old party organization in 
force, regardless of the true interest of the country. . . . 
The consequence is that instead of reinstating themselves 
they have established the Radicals more strongly in power." 

666. Military Reconstruction. The Radicals ^ now felt they 
might do what they pleased. In the spring of 1867 there was 

^ The Radicals took this extreme course because, toward the close of 1866, 
several Southern states had rejected the amendment. 



476 AMERICAN HISTORY 

passed over the veto a " Reconstruction Act." It declared 
that " no legal state governments " existed in the " states of 
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, 
Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and Arkansas." The 
act grouped these states into five military districts each to 
be ruled for the present by a Federal general. Under the 
supervision of the miUtary authorities a constitution was to 
be framed in each state by a convention of the male citizens 
of " whatever race, color, or previous condition . . . except 
such as may be disfranchised for participation in the rebellion 
. . . and when said state by a vote of its legislature elected 
under said Constitution shall have adopted " the Fourteenth 
Amendment, the state might be readmitted to representa- 
tion in Congress. 

667. The Tenure of OflBlce Act. The question arose : would 
the President carry out the provisions of the act ? According 
to our theory of government only Congress can make laws, 
only the Federal Courts can interpret them, and only the 
President can put them into operation. Theoretically, the 
three branches of the government are equal and independent 
of each other. We have seen that cases had arisen in which 
the President had ignored his obligation to respect the com- 
mands of the Supreme Court. ^ What if this determined John- 
son should take a similar course with regard to Congress ? To 
do so openly would render him liable to impeachment. But 
it might be possible for him to make delays and hold back the 
formation of new state governments until sentiment in the 
North had reacted and the Radicals, perhaps, were put out of 
power. To prevent this, Stevens and his faction passed the 
Tenure of Office Act. It forbade the President to remove any 
member of his cabinet without the consent of the Senate. 
The purpose of the act was chiefly to make sure that Stanton ^ 

1 See Chapter XXIII. 

* Johnson had retained Lincoln's cabinet. The cabinet had long since 
divided into factions, one liberal, the other radical. Several Radicals had 
resigned. 



RECONSTRUCTION 477 

should continue in control of the Department of War. In 
spite of being a secretary to the President, Stanton was acting 
with his political opponents and was almost as important a 
Radical leader as Stevens himself. FeeHng that it had thus 
insured its policy against being sidetracked by the interference 
of the President, Congress adjourned.^ 

668. The Struggle for the War Office. Soon after Congress 
had adjourned, the President demanded Stanton's resignation. 
Stanton refused to resign. Thereupon the President sus- 
pended him and made General Grant temporary secretary. 
But upon the reassembling of Congress, the President was re- 
buked and Stanton was reinstated. The President then 
resolved to test the right of Congress to control the cabinet. 
He appointed a new secretary of war. General Lorenzo 
Thomas, and ordered Stanton to turn over to him the papers 
of the department. Instead, Stanton appealed for help to the 
speaker of the House, and the House replied by impeaching 
the President for " high misdemeanors in office." ^ There 
followed the most famous trial in our history. It ended 
May, 1868, in acquittal. Twelve Democratic and seven Re- 
publican senators ^ voted " not guilty." Thirty-five Radicals 
voted " guilty." As impeachment requires a two-thirds vote, 
the President was saved by one vote. Stanton at once 
resigned. 

669. The Radical Governments. In spite of his opposition 
to the Radicals, the President had not really impeded the exe- 

'A bill to admit Nebraska 'had been passed over the veto in February, 
1867. 

2 In impeaching a President the House acts as prosecutor, the Senate as judge. 
The Radicals had been seeking for some time to find a charge on which to 
impeach Johnson. It is probable that the Tenure of Office Act had been ex- 
pressly designed to make impeachment likely. 

' This Republican minority which here broke with the Radical leaders saved 
their country from a constitutional revolution. They were evidence, also, that 
the bulk of the party would not permanently be manageable by the Stevens 
faction. It is imperative in all this part of our history to distinguish between 
Republican "Liberals" and "Radicals." The latter were but one faction 
which had temporary control of a great historic party. 



478 AMERICAN HISTORY 

cution of their scheme of reconstruction. In all the Southern 
states the provisions of the Reconstruction Act were carried 
out. Each state witnessed a social revolution during the brief 
period of the rule of the generals. Great numbers of the whites 
were excluded from the franchise, and all the negroes were 
admitted to it. New governments were set up, based upon 
the votes of negroes who were managed by unscrupulous 
white adventurers. In the summer of 1868 Congress admitted 
representatives sent to Washington by such governments 
in North and South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, 
and Arkansas.^ The Radical legislatures of these recon- 
structed states had approved the Fourteenth Amendment, 
which was declared in force July 20, 1868. 

670. Election of 1868. All these states took part in the 
presidential election of 1868, and in all but Louisiana the 
electoral votes were cast for the Republican candidate. General 
Grant. These votes were secured, of course, through the dis- 
franchisement of the Southern whites. And yet if all the 
Southern states that took part in the election had frankly 
expressed themselves and voted for the Democratic candidate, 
Horatio Seymour, of New York, Grant would still have had 
a majority in the electoral college. There was a widespread 
belief that he was " no poHtician " and that the country had 
had enough of pohticians. As it turned out, the great general 
was easily managed by the politicians. 

671. Fifteenth Amendment. The Congress which im- 
I)cachcd President Johnson - drafted in its last session the 
Fifteenth Amendment and submitted it to the states. This 
amendment forbade any state to deny the right to vote to 
any citizen on account of " race, color, or previous condition 
of servitude." As was expected the amendment was promptly 

' Georgia was not at once admitted because its reconstructed government 
did not satisfy the Radicals in Congress. Not until 1870 was there a govern- 
ment in Georgia which the Radicals would recognize. Governments satisfac- 
tory to the majority in Congress were established the same year in the remaining 
Southern states. 

^The Fortieth Congress: March 4, 1867-March 3, 1869. 



RECONSTRUCTION 479 

accepted in those reconstructed states where the Radicals 
and negroes were in control ; also in a number of Northern 
and Western states.^ 

672. Final Readmissions. There were still four Southern 
states that had no representatives in Congress. A new Con- 
gress met in 1869. Though not so violent as its uncompromis- 
ing predecessor, this Congress also had a Radical majority in 
both Houses. As to the four states, it continued the work of 
the preceding Congress. These four, however, were required to 
ratify both the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments as well 
as to comply with the other provisions of the Reconstruction 
Act. In the course of the year 1870, this was done. Repre- 
sentatives were admitted to Congress from the four states 
of Georgia, Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas. In January, 1871, 
all the states of the Union were once more represented at 
Washington. 

673. Texas versus White. Meanwhile the Supreme Court 
had interpreted the various laws that had been enacted upon 
the subject of reconstruction, and had laid down a general prin- 
ciple by which the laws were to be judged. It had decided 
(1869) in the case known as Texas versus White that a state 
could not be destroyed by the act of Congress, that our 
Federal government is an " indestructible Union of indestruct- 
ible States," but that no state has the right to secede from the 
Union and that if it attempts to do so Congress has authority 
to act as it deems best in restoring the relations between the 
state and the Union.- 

^ It was rejected by New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Ohio, 
Oregon, California, and Georgia. The rejections of Ohio and Georgia were 
subsequently changed to ratifications. New York at first ratified but afterward 
rescinded its ratification. Tennessee did not act; neither did Texas, Virginia, 
and Mississippi. 

^ While this decision upheld the legislation enacted by the Radicals, it re- 
jected the theory on which their extreme leaders wished to proceed ; namely, 
the idea that the seceding states had forfeited all rights, and were at the mercy 
of Congress. Stevens held that none of them were "entitled to the protection 
of the Constitution." Some extremists had advocated cutting South Carolina 
in two and adding half to North Carolina, half to Georgia. 



48o AMERICAN HISTORY 

674. The Release of President Davis. Another action 
of the Federal courts makes a gleam of brightness and mag 
nanimity in this darkly bitter time. The feeling of the Radicals 
was most relentless toward President Davis. Of the Confed- 
erate leaders he alone had been cast into prison. For two 
years he was a prisoner in Fortress Monroe. At first, he 
was treated with harshness ; later, as the Northern Liberals 
began to recover influence, he was given comfortable quarters. 
Every effort was made to induce him to apply to the President 
for an executive pardon; but he refused because " to ask 
pardon would be a confession of guilt." At length the demands 
of the Liberals were granted. He was released May 13, 1867. 
The bond required by the Court was signed by a number of 
distinguished Northerners, among them two who had formerly 
been his most ardent opponents — Horace Greeley and 
Gerrit Smith. 

675. What Johnson Achieved. It would be unfair to close 
the record of the first live years following the great surrender 
without mentioning two things done by the government of 
President Johnson that have had permanent results. 

One was the enforcement of the Monroe Doctrine with 
regard to the French in Mexico. When the war ended, French 
legions still upheld the throne of MaximiHan, the so-called 
Mexican emperor. The United States assembled an army 
on the Mexican frontier and gave Napoleon to understand 
that the Monroe Doctrine must be respected. Napoleon 
had no desire now to risk a war with the Americans whose 
veteran soldiers numbered more than a milhon men. He re- 
called his legions, and the Mexicans promptly put an end 
to the bogus " empire " he had set up. 

The other achievement of the administration was the pur- 
chase of Alaska from Russia, in 1867, for $7,000,000. At the 
time most people thought the purchase a useless squandering 
of money. 

676. The Disbanding of the Armies. Perhaps the most 
striking single event of Johnson's administration was the dis- 



RECONSTRUCTION 481 

banding of the enormous Federal armies. Until it took place, 
Europeans would not believe that it would happen. They 
could not think that a milhon soldiers would quietly lay down 
their arms and go back to work. They expected to see some 
one make himself military dictator. To their astonishment 
the million veterans disbanded without a word of protest, 
and the army was reduced at one stroke to fifty thousand men. 

m. THE RECOVERY OF LOCAL INDEPENDENCE 

677. Despotism in the South. The condition of the country 
during Grant's administration was extremely critical. A 
large part of the people of the North were hostile to the govern- 
ment and considered it despotic, a menace to free institutions. 
The chief seat of danger, however, was the South. The 
conditions there were so peculiar and so sinister that we must 
pause to glance at them. 

The governments set up by the Radicals depended for their 
existence on the support of three groups of men : the negroes, 
the lowest class of Southern whites known as " scalawags," 
and Northern adventurers called " carpetbaggers." The 
negroes furnished the votes; the scalawags and the carpet- 
baggers were the political bosses who manipulated the negro 
vote and by means of it made their own fortunes. Behind 
these local bosses stood the Radical party in Congress always 
ready to give them aid.^ 

Although the South was utterly impoverished as a result 
of the war,2 the legislatures controlled by these shameless ad- 
venturers put the Southern states in debt for some $300,000,000 
and none of this money was expended for the benefit of the 
people whose taxes would have to pay it back. The taxes 
fell almost altogether on those classes wliich, for the moment, 

^ In 1870 and 1871 Congress passed "Force Acts" temporarily suspending 
the writ of habeas corpus in the South and providing for the use of the army 
in holding elections. 

^ The greatest cost of the war was in human life. The dead on both sides 
numbered between 600,000 and 700,000, most of them in the prime of life. 



482 AMERICAN HISTORY 

had no voice in the government. The amount of these taxes 
was staggering. Time and again plantations had to be sold 
in order to pay the taxes levied by a legislature of negroes and 
adventurers who themselves paid practically no taxes at all. 
The use of the money thus raised was most disgraceful. A 
few illustrations tell the whole story. In South Carolina the 
negro legislature in one year spent $350,000 for " supplies, 
sundries, and incidentals." Records still exist which show 
that the " sundries " were chiefly liquors and cigars. On one 
occasion the speaker made a bet of a thousand dollars with a 
member. The speaker lost. One of the last acts of the ses- 
sion increased the speaker's salary for that year by one 
thousand dollars. These are fair specimens of what went on 
throughout the South. No wonder Judge Black of Pennsyl- 
vania summed up the situation thus : " A conflagration sweep- 
ing over all the states from one end to the other and destroying 
every building and every article of i)ersonal property would 
have been a visitation of mercy in comparison with the course 
of such a government." 

678. The Ku-Klux Klan. By way of protection against 
their irresponsible despots, the Southern whites formed secret 
societies. The most famous of these was known as the Ku- 
Klux Klan. This society discovered a way of working 
upon the superstitions of the negroes, making them beheve 
that supernatural powers had forbidden them to take part in 
politics. Bands of horsemen, swathed in white so as to have 
a resemblance to specters, rode about at night among the 
simple-minded black folk and often succeeded in frightening 
them out of further participation in politics.^ 

' As the situation became more desperate, the Ku-Klux had recourse to force, 
and sometimes terrified negroes by means of violence. No sooner was it known 
that such things were going on, than all sorts of desperadoes put on the Ku-Klux 
disguise and committed violent acts of various kinds. All these events were 
reported in the North as done by the Ku-Klux, and no distinction was made 
between the actions of the genuine Ku-Klux and their crafty imitators. At 
length, the original society took the lead in a movement to put down all such 
associations. 



RECONSTRUCTION 483 

However, these simple means were not sufficient. They 
were counteracted by secret societies among the negroes and 
low whites, the chief of which was the Union League. The 
latter sought to terrorize the whites. Houses were burned 
at night, and fearful insults were offered to white men and 
women. The Ku-Klux retaliated by whipping and even 
killing negroes. For a time there was virtual civil war between 
the two groups of secret societies. 

679. The Whites begin to regain Power. In those states 
where the negroes formed a minority of the population, the 
whites soon regained their natural leadership,^ but in states 
where the negroes formed a majority the white people returned 
to power only after a long and arduous struggle. In such 
states a great deal depended on the exclusion of the ex-Con- 
federates from the franchise. As the control of the franchise 
was entirely in the hands of Congress, the voting body of the 
whites could not be increased except by congressional action. 
Friends of fair play in the North brought such action about. 
We must now consider how this was accompUshed. 

680. The Radicals begin to lose Ground. In 1870 two 
things happened both of which showed that a poKtical change 
had begun. In the congressional election of that year, the 
RepubKcan majority shrank more than thirty votes. More- 
over, the Liberal wing of the party opposed the Radical wing 
at the polls. This began in Missouri, where the Liberals were 
led by General Carl Schurz and B. Gratz Brown, who also re- 
ceived the support of the Democrats. The issue was, what 
to do about the white people in the South. The Radicals 
stood firm for continuing to keep the bulk of them disquali- 

1 " In several of the states," to quote from "Division and Reunion," "... the 
white vote (under the act of 1867) was strong enough to control, when united; 
and in these reconstruction when completed reinstated the whites in power al- 
most at once." Georgia was an instance. "The regeneration of Georgia," 
says the distinguished Northern historian, Mr. Rhodes, "... was completed 
by the inauguration of a Democratic governor in January, 1872. Henceforward 
she has had home rule." That same year Radical rule was overthrown in Ten- 
nessee, North Carolina, and Virginia. 



484 



AMERICAN fflSTORY 



fied. The Liberals demanded " universal amnesty and uni- 
versal enfranchisement." The Liberals carried the Missouri 
elections. 

The next spring a coalition of Liberal Republicans and 
Democrats took place in Ohio, and on May i, 1872, a national 
Liberal Republican convention was held at Cincinnati. It 
adopted a platform which declared that " the partisans of the 
administration, assuming to be the Republican party and con- 
trolling its organization . . . have kept alive the passions 

and resentments of the 
late Civil War, to use them 
for their own advantage; 
they have resorted to arbi- 
trary measures in direct 
conflict with the organic 
law, instead of appealing 
to the better instincts and 
latent patriotism of the 
Southern people by restor- 
ing to them those rights 
the enjoyment of which is 
indispensable to a success- 
ful administration of their 
local aff'airs, and would 
tend to revive a patriotic and hopeful national feeling." 

The Liberals demanded " the immediate and absolute re- 
moval of all disabilities imposed on account of the rebellion," 
and proclaimed the principle that " local self-government 
with impartial suffrage will guard the rights of all citizens 
more securely than any centralized power." 

On this platform they nominated for President Horace 
Greeley, of New York. 

681. The Act of Amnesty. This platform summed up the 
course the Liberals had lately been following in Congress. 
Several times they had brought forward a plan for granting 
general amnesty in the South. The Radical leaders were 




CARL SCHURZ 



RECONSTRUCTION 485 

losing their hold upon Congress and now the Liberals gained 
an important point. Three weeks after the Cincinnati con- 
vention the Act of Amnesty was passed. It restored political 
rights to all ex-Confederates with the exception of a few 
hundred.^ By this act more than 150,000 of the best men of 
the South, the natural leaders of the better classes, resumed 
their proper places in political life. 

682. The Issue of 1872. The issue of the election of 1872 
was whether or not national politics should cease to be con- 
cerned with sectional questions. The Liberal Republicans 
demanded that sectional questions be dropped, and that the 
national government turn its attention to questions of finance 
and the reform of the civil service.^ Their candidate, Greeley, 
was also nominated by the Democrats. The Radical Repub- 
licans renominated Grant. They indorsed the government's 
policy in the South and denied the charge that the civil ser- 
vice was corrupt. In nominating Greeley the Liberals had 
made a mistake in generalship. Their really strong candidate 
was probably Charles Francis Adams. Furthermore, Greeley's 
partisans had induced the Liberal convention to adopt a 
resolution that half-way committed the new party to pro- 
tection. Hence, many Democrats who might otherwise have 
voted for Greeley refused to support the joint ticket. Grant's 
personal popularity was still great. He was reelected ' and 

' The greater part of those deprived of the benefits of this act were sub- 
sequently restored to full rights under special acts of Congress. 

^ The financial questions concerned the credit of the government. There 
had been much discussion as to whether the bonds should be paid in paper 
money or in specie. Though the government paper was worth much more than 
during the war, as late as 1871 a paper dollar was worth but ninety cents in 
specie. The Liberals were fearful that the government would fail to redeem 
its obligations in good money. 

During the period when the Radicals had everything their own way, the 
civil service had degenerated into a recognized source of profit to the politicians. 
In one of the conventions a delegate frankly asked, "What are we here for if 
it's not to get the offices ? " The Liberals demanded that all this be done away 
with and the civil service be taken out of politics. 

'In 1872 three Southern states — Georgia, Texas, and Tennessee — had 
already been recovered by the whites and cast their electoral votes against 



486 AMERICAN HISTORY 

once more the Republicans had a majority in the House of 
Representatives. 

683. Results of the Liberal Defeat. Thus the first attempt 
of the Liberals to rid national politics of the sectional issue 
failed. Their failure led to four years more of sectional dis- 
turbance. During this period, however, the white people of 
the South gradually got the upper hand in most of the recon- 
structed states. The insolence, dishonesty, and violence 
of the "carpetbag" governments had become so extreme that 
in some cases even the better class of negroes began voting with 
the Democrats. Northerners who had settled in the South 
and had sided at first with the Radicals went over to the 
Democrats. At last every Southern community became 
massed in two solid factions — on the one hand, all the edu- 
cated and responsible people ; on the other, all the ilKterate 
and disreputable ones. 

684. Local Civil Wars. The better classes did not recover 
power without having to fight for it. In several of the states 
there were miniature civil wars. Whenever a Radical govern- 
ment was in danger of being put out, it appealed to the Presi- 
dent for troops on the pretext that the negroes were being 
intimidated by the Ku-Klux. During several years such 
appeals were generally granted. However, the struggle for 
home rule was helped on by quarrels among the adventurers 
who controlled the negro vote. In Arkansas, in 1874, two 
rival leaders claimed to have been elected governor, and each 
appealed to the President for troops to put down the other. 
This led to a local revolution in which both the adventurers 
v/ere expelled. In 1875 ^ Democratic legislature in Louisiana 
was suppressed by troops at the command of the Radical 

Grant. Before the next presidential election, in five other states — Virginia, 
North Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi — the white people re- 
gained control. In 1876 all the foregoing eight states had their electoral voles 
counted for Tilden. The three remaining states — Florida, Louisiana, South 
Carolina — were in 1876 still struggling with the "carpetbaggers"; their 
electoral votes were counted for Hayes. They were recovered by the whites 
in 1877. (Sec sections O88-690.) 



RECONSTRUCTION 487 

governor, and in the same year, the tottering Radical govern- 
ment of Mississippi made urgent appeals for military support. 
By that time the President was disgusted with the Southern 
Radicals. He refused the appeal, saying, "The whole public 
are tired out with these . . . outbreaks in the South, and the 
majority are ready now to condemn any interference on 
the part of the government." 

685. " The Tidal Wave." Grant spoke the plain truth, 
as was proved by the elections of 1874 and 1875. What was 
nicknamed " the tidal wave" " swept over the country. Num- 
bers of Republicans left the party — some permanently, some 
only for the time being — and voted with the Democrats- 
Massachusetts led the revolt by electing a Democratic gov- 
ernor. In the House of Representatives the Republican ma- 
jority was swept away. 

686. The Fifth Avenue Conference. Again the best ele- 
ments in the Republican party drew together in an attempt 
to wrest the control of it from the Radicals. Said Carl Schurz, 
who, with Charles Francis Adams, led the movement, "I see 
some reason to hope that the year 1876 will present an oppor- 
tunity for a movement such as that of 1872 ought to have 
been." There was especial reason for this new revolt because 
James G. Blaine, of Maine, who was scheming to be the next 
Republican candidate for President, had deliberately revived 
all the worst features of extreme sectionalism. In a speech in 
Congress, early in 1876, he attacked the South in a manner 
that rivaled Stevens at his worst. The Liberals answered 
with a counterstroke of great dignity but full of menace to 
the Radical domination. Some two hundred of the most 
distinguished men in America, guided by Schurz and Adams, 
met at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York, May 15, 1876. 
The chairman of the meeting was the President of Yale, 
Theodore D. Woolsey. They drew up resolutions plainly 
threatening to leave the party if Blaine were nominated for 
President. They repeated the demand of the convention of 
four years previous for a divorce between national and local 



488 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



politics and denounced the administration as excessively 
corrupt.^ 

687. The Election of 1876. The effect of the Fifth Ave- 
nue Conference was seen in the Republican national con- 
vention. Ail the enemies of Blaine combined to secure 
the nomination of Rutherford B. Hayes, governor of Ohio, 
a moderate politician pledged to the reform of the civil 
service. His nomination, however, did not satisfy all the 
members of the conference. The two leaders parted com- 
pany. Though Schurz decided to 
remain with the Republicans and 
support Hayes, Adams went over 
to the Democrats and supported 
their candidate, Samuel J. Tilden, 
of New York, a fearless man of high 
character who had made a great 
name fighting ofiicial corruption in 
New York City.^ 

By this time, eight of the recon- 
structed states had thrown off the 
rule of the " carpetbaggers," and 
these with a number of states in 
the North and West supported 
Tilden, giving him an electoral vote of 184. The remaining 
states, except three, were carried by Hayes who received 




RUTHERFORD B. HAYES 



* Several notorious scandals had contributed to form a general impression 
that the public service was honeycombed with fraud. It was proved that a cor- 
poration known as the Credit Mobilier had bribed members of Congress to vote 
for bills favoring its interests. The secretary of war, W. W. Belknap, was im- 
peached for fraud and narrowly missed being convicted. On the other hand, 
the secretary of the treasury, B. M. Bristow of Kentucky, showed himself an 
able and uncompromising reformer by hunting down and bringing to punish- 
ment the members of the "Whisky Ring" — a secret association of distillers and 
federal officers that was extensively defrauding the government. Bristow was 
the first choice of the liberal Republicans for President. 

* He broke up the infamous "Tweed Ring," a conspiracy of corru[it ix)liti- 
cians which robbed the city, through fraudulent contracts, of some $100,000,000. 
The head of it was sent to the penitentiary. 



RECONSTRUCTION 489 

from them 172 electoral votes. However, votes of three 
states were claimed by both sides. These were Florida, 
Louisiana, and Oregon — thirteen votes in all.^ Every one 
admitted that Tilden had a popular majority of over 250,000. 

The thirteen contested votes were taken under consid- 
eration by Congress. A long and bitter debate resulted 
in the appointment of an electoral commission of fifteen 
whose judgment was to decide the matter, unless both Houses 
rejected their decision. On the commission were seven Demo- 
crats and eight Republicans. Every question which it passed 
upon was decided by a strictly party vote. The commission 
gave every contested point to Hayes, and as the Republicans 
had control of the Senate there was no possibility of a con- 
current vote of the Houses reversing the decision. Hayes 
was declared elected by 185 electoral votes against 184, 

688. The South in 1876. During the presidential year the 
civil conflict in the South reached its height. In the states not 
yet recovered from the " carpetbaggers," the whites put forth 
all their strength, making a final effort to secure local independ- 
ence. In South Carolina, particularly, under the able leader- 
ship of General Wade Hampton, they made a gallant struggle 
against the adventurers and the Federal troops. At the close 
of the year there were two governors and two legislatures, 
each claiming to be legally elected. The same condition of 
things had come about in Louisiana. In Florida the whites 
had been more unconditionally successful. Even the Radicals 
admitted that the Democrats had elected their state officers. 
In 1877 Florida quietly passed into the control of its white 
people. 

^ At first the Democrats claimed South Carolina, which was still under the 
"carpetbagger" regime. But later the Democratic members of the congres- 
sional investigating committee abandoned the claim. 

In the case of Oregon only one of its three electoral votes was questioned. 
The state had chosen three Republican electors, one of whom was a federal office- 
holder, and therefore by law disqualified to serve. The Democratic governor 
then gave a certificate of election to two Republicans and one Democrat. The 
legality of his action was challenged by the Republicans. 



490 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



689. The Withdrawal of the Troops. In South Carolina 
and Louisiana the situation, when Hayes became President, 
was critical in the extreme. Furthermore, the entire country 
was in a state of intense excitement. Vast numbers of people 
all over the North and West felt that Tilden had been 

" counted out " — as the 
phrase was — in an illegal 
way. The country appears 
now to have been on the 
brink of genuine civil war. 
However, there was one 
important phase in the con- 
troversy which was de- 
\cloped in a way to avert 
war. The Democrats and 
Liberals wanted, first of 
all, the restoration of the 
principle of local indepen- 
dence in local matters. 
They cared more for this 
even than for the election 
of their presidential candi- 
date. By conceding this 
point in return for Demo- 
cratic acquiescence in the decision of the electoral commis- 
sion, the Republicans might effect a compromise. 

Before the commission brought in its report, Hayes had 
cleared the way for such a compromise by intimating that in 
the event of his election he would withdraw the troops from 
the South. He proved as good as his word. Soon after his 
inauguration, the troops were withdrawn. Thereupon, both 
in South Carolina and in Louisiana, the Radicals surren- 
dered. The white people took possession of the state govern- 
ments. Thus, in 1877, the restoration of local independence 
was complete throughout the United States. 




WADE HAMPTON 



RECONSTRUCTION 491 

690. The End of an Era. President Hayes further com- 
mitted himself to a Hberal policy by appointing Schurz ^ a 
member of his cabinet. He went still further and included in 
his cabinet an ex-Confederate, General D. M. Key, of Ten- 
nessee. Both these appointments stirred the Radicals to 
bitterest denunciation of the President ; but their day was 
done. The Republican party had escaped from their domina- 
tion and with that event their significance in our history ceased. 
Though their voices were still heard in the land long afterward, 
their influence steadily waned and eventually disappeared. 
A new Republicanism, as well as a new nation, arose out of the 
fearful controversies between 1865 and 1877. President 
Hayes understood his mission in American history when he 
said : " My chance to serve my country is to give it peace, 
to let sectional animosities die, to clear the way for new phases 
of national politics. I am the end of an era." 

Selections from the Sources. Fleming, Documentary History of Re- 
construction; Johnson, Readings, 506-578; Macdonald, Select Stat- 
utes, Nos. 35-42, 44-95, 99-104; Welles, Diary, III; Richardson, 
Messages and Papers, VI, 189-191, 213-215, 222-226, 251, 252, 305-757; 
VII; Smedes, Southern Planter, 231-341; Hoar, Autobiography, I, 
chaps, xv-xviii; Pike, The Prostrate State; Nordhoff, Cotton States 
in 187s; Hart, Contemporaries, IV, Nos. 141-159. 

Bibliography. Channing, Hart, and Turner, Guide, 489-500; Dun- 
ning, Reconstruction, chap, xxii; The South in the Building of the Na- 
tion, IV, 625, 626, 645; Fleming, Documentary History. 

Secondary Accounts. Fleming, Documentary History (introductions 
to the various chapters) ; Rhodes, History, IV, 484-487 ; V, 47-57, 132- 
138, 516-626; VI, 1-157, 168-192, 200-204, 244-246, 284-334, 390-391; 
VII, 74-174; Wilson, American People, V, 1-108, 136-140, and Division 

' This remarkable man, who was a great force in American politics for forty 
years, is one of the most striking instances of a foreigner who has achieved high 
distinction in his adopted country. Born in Germany, one of the philosophical 
revolutionists in 1848, he had to flee the country to save his life. Afterward he 
served in the Federal army and became a general; he took a leading part 
throughout the great struggle of the Liberals to defeat the absolutism of the 
Radicals and was Republican secretary of the interior. He later took part in 
the Republican secession of 1884 when he joined the Democrats. He was editor 
of Harper's Weekly and the New York Evening Post. 



492 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



a>id Reunion, sees. 125-141; Johnston, Politics, 207-242; Stanwood, 
Presidency, 313-335; Dunning, Reconstruction, and Civil War and Re- 
construction, 66-302 ; Larned, History for Ready Reference, V, 3560, 
3721; VI, 170; Curtis, Constitutional History, II, 349-396; Lanbon, 
Constitutional History, 250-265, 331-348; Brown, Lower South, 191- 
225; Dewey, Financial History, sees. 142-158, 163-170; Foster, 
Century oj Diplomacy, 401-437 ; Latane, United States and Spanish 
America, 136-174, 221-265; Dodd, Jefferson Davis, chap, xxii ; Pen- 
dleton, A . H. Stephens, chap, xvii ; McCall, Thaddeus Stevens, 239- 
348; Storey, Charles Suniyier, 225-270, 282-432; Hart, S. P. Chase, 
319-435 ; Bancroft, W. H. Seward, II, 419-500 ; Adams, C. F. Adams, 
377-397 ; Linn, Horace Greeley, 214-259; Mayes, L. Q. C. Lamar, chap. 
XII ; Taylor, Destruction and Reconstruction, chap. xv. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. Lincoln's Plan of Reconstruction. 
2. Johnston's Plan. 3. The Vagrancy Laws. 4. The Radical Party. 
5. The Liberal Republicans. 6. Congressional Reconstruction. 7. The 
Impeachment of President Johnston. 8. The Rule of the Carpetbaggers. 
9. The Ku-Klux Klan. 10. The Union League. 11. The Act of Am- 
nesty. 12. The Liberal Party. 13. The Fifth Avenue Conference. 
14. The South in 1876. 15. Election of Hayes. 



FIFTH PERIOD (1877-1913) 
THE AMERICAN FEDERAL REPUBLIC 



CHAPTER XXIX 

THE RISE OF INDUSTRIALISM 

691. The Cruiser Claims. The great war left in the hands 
of the American people three problems : (i) reconstruction ; 
(2) foreign affairs; and (3) the national debt. We have 




THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON 



traced the stern course of the solution of the reconstruction 
problem. Our foreign affairs were more easily adjusted. As 
has been shown, the war was followed by a vigorous reasser- 

493 



494 AMERICAN HISTORY 

tion of the Monroe Doctrine (section 675). Napoleon with- 
drew his armies from Mexico. There remained a contention 
with England. The United States claimed that the British 
were responsible for damages done to American commerce by 
the Confederate cruisers fitted out in the British ports. A 
joint high commission drew up, in 1871, the Treaty of Wash- 
ington, under which the matter was referred to a court of ar- 
bitration. The court met at Geneva in 1872. It awarded 
damages to the United States amounting to $1 5,500,0)00. Eng- 
land, in due time, paid that sum to the American government.^ 
692. The Payment of the Debt. At the end of the war 
the United States owed $2,758,000,000. The government 
immediately took steps toward paying its enormous debt. 
This brought up a question with regard to the currency. Gold 
and silver had practically disappeared and in 1865 the Ameri- 
can paper dollar was worth only seventy cents, calculated in 
gold. The intention of the government, nevertheless, was to pay 
the bonds in gold, and offer gold in return for its "greenbacks," 
dollar for dollar. But the business world in 1866 was de- 
spondent and many people objected to the government's plan ; 
they feared it would necessitate high taxes. There was an 
outcry against resuming specie payments — that is, giving out 
gold to all who wished to exchange their greenbacks. But 
after a great deal of vehement discussion the friends of resump- 
tion carried the day, and the Resumption Act was passed 
January 14, 1875. It directed the secretary of the treasury 
to begin collecting a store of coin, and after four years to begin 
giving out coin in return for greenbacks.^ 

* Two minor controversies with England, one relative to our boundary in the 
islands of Puget Sound, the other concerning Canadian fisheries, were also settled 
by arbitration. 

* The resumption of specie payments began, as directed, in 1879. Previously 
(February 12, 1873) there had been passed a Coinage Act. At that time few 
silver dollars were in circulation and this act provided that, in future, gold dollars 
should be coined with a weight of 25.80 grains and also specially heavy silver 
"trade" dollars (intended for the China trade) with a weight of 420 grains. 
The "standard" silver dollar which had formerly been coined with a weight of 
41 2.50 grains was discontinued. A later act (1878) forbade the use of the trade 



THE RISE OF INDUSTRIALISM 



495 



693. Readjustment of Business. In the ten years between 
1866 and 1876, the business of the country struggled hard to 
readjust itself to new conditions. This was inevitable because 
in the course of the war the old-time business conditions had 
been entirely upset. We have seen that the federal govern- 
ment had sought to stimulate internal business so as to have 
more wealth to tax. At the same time American commerce 
had been very nearly swept off the seas by the Confederate 




LINE OF THE FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY 

cruisers. Thus during the war two causes had cooperated 
to turn American capital into purely American ventures — 
into equipping the armies, building railways/ and organizing 
new industries. 

The close of the war and the return of a million soldiers to 
civil life caused vast increase in the demand for employment, 
and satisfactory employment could not always be had. In 



dollar as legal tender. Therefore, in 1879, the United States was a "gold 
standard" country. The act of 1873 was called by the silver men "the crime 

of '73." 

^ Congress chartered the Union Pacific Railway in 1862. In 1869, at Ogden, 
Utah, was driven the last spike and there was a continuous track from New York 
to San Francisco. 



496 AMERICAN HISTORY 

all respects the moment was one of great restlessness. Men 
had become accustomed to doing things on a great scale, and 
not unnaturally, when they turned from war to business, they 
began to speculate. Reckless investment became the order 
of the day. Suddenly, two great fires, the Chicago fire of 187 1 
and the Boston fire of 1872, destroyed property valued at 
$200,000,000. In 1873 a reaction began. Banks began to 
fail. Railroads could not pay their dividends. It is esti- 
mated that losses through business failures in 1873 amounted 
to $225,000,000. 

694. A New Type of Business Man. All these conditions 
united to bring about new and very significant forms of busi- 
ness. Railroads, especially, entered upon a new era in their 
development. The financial troubles of 1873 caused a great 
many roads to change hands, ^ and the reorganization of these 
roads offered great opportunities to a new style of business 
man, a more far-sighted and original type than the country had 
yet known. Men of this t>^e reorganized the railway world 
by compacting the shattered small roads into great systems 
that were rich enough to stand almost any reverse of fortune. 
Thus began the era of the great " corporations " of which we 
hear so much to-day. 

However, the new railroads were not the only great corpora- 
tions. Even before the troubles of 1873, John D. Rockefeller 
had organized the Standard Oil Company. He was one of 
the first Americans who saw the great profit that may result 
from getting virtual control of the sale of a single article. In 
the general collapse of 1873 strong organizers saw a chance to 
imitate Mr. Rockefeller's methods in other lines. As in the 
case of the railroads, small concerns were combined into 
great ones. The result was a number of great mercantile 
and manufacturing corporations which we know to-day as 
" trusts." 

• As a result of the panic of 1873 two fifths of the railway mileage passed into 
the hands of receivers. Between 1876 and 1879, 450 roads changed hands 
through forced sale. 



THE RISE OF INDUSTRIALISM 497 

695. A New Power. The results of this readjustment of 
business to the new conditions were far-reaching. Business 
men discovered that a rich corporation has enormous power. 
In some cases, by giving their business to one town and with- 
holding it from another, they could literally make one and 
destroy the other. Hereafter, we shall hear much of the power 
of the corporations.^ We need now to realize that these power- 
ful business combinations met the need of the moment. That 
was the secret of their immediate success. They restored 
confidence, gave employment to great numbers of people, and 
set business going again in an orderly fashion. However, — • 
to speak broadly, — they had practically brought back into 
American politics the aristocratic factor. We shall see more 
clearly what this means as we proceed. 

696. The Centennial Year. In 1876 the hundredth anni- 
versary of American independence was celebrated by an 
international exposition, held at Philadelphia. It made a 
splendid showing of material wealth. It also revealed to the 
world the vast possibilities of that part of our country which 
had not until then been more than a noble promise — the West. 

Beginning with 1876, the next twenty years of our history 
are concerned chiefly with the logical working out of those 
forces which were organized just previous to 1876. In this 
process the conditions of American Hfe were revolutionized. 
Old questions were forgotten ; new questions became insist- 
ent. All this immense transformation was made possible by 
the growth of the West. We must fix in memory the condi- 
tion of the West at the opening of this twenty-year period. 

697. The Opening of the West. We have seen how the 
federal government encouraged railroads to extend into the 

1 Almost at once the power of the corporations became a political issue. In 
the West their power was very great and was freely used. An association known 
as the Farmers' Alliance, whose members were sometimes called "Grangers," 
led the way in opposing corporations. It especially opposed the western rail- 
ways, which were in the habit of discriminating against various localities. Tliis 
agitation contributed both to the formation, later, of the Populist party, and to 
the federal legislation on interstate commerce. 



498 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



West. Millions of acres of land were given to them as rewards 
for building westward. But the West needed people even 
more than it needed roads. As far back as 1862 ^ Congress 
passed the Homestead Act, which provided that every perma- 
nent settler could have 160 acres of land, practically without 
charge. During the next ten years 28,000,000 acres were 
given away to settlers.- Another act, in 1873, offered land to 
any settler in the West who would plant a certain number of 







A GROUP OF IMMIGRANTS 



trees. Under this act, 9,000,000 acres were soon occupied. 
Large numbers of immigrants poured into the West. For 
the most part they were either energetic Americans from the 
Eastern states. North and South, or sturdy foreigners from 
the North of Europe — Irish, Germans, and Scandinavians.^ 

^The Bureau of Agricullurc was established in 1862. It began at once to 
assist farmers in many ways. In 1889 it became a department. 

* Beginning in 1868, treaties were negotiated with several foreign govern- 
ments to make it easy for immigrants to transfer allegiance from their home 
government to the United States. 

' Subsequent to 1870, new t\pes of immigrants began to arrive in greater 
and greater numbers — Italians, Poles, Bohemians, Russians, Jews, Hungarians, 
Greeks, Syrians, .\rmenians. These, as a rule, were of the peasant class. 
American workingmen began to demand some restriction upon the stream of 
immigrants. 



THE RISE OF INDUSTRIALISM 499 

Very soon the great region between Iowa and California had 
a considerable and prosperous population. New discoveries 
of mines gave this population still other means of support. 
Copper was worked in Montana in 1864 ; gold in Dakota and 
Wyoming in 1874; silver in Colorado in 1876. As a result 
of all this three new states were organized; Nevada in 1864; 
Nebraska in 1867 ; Colorado in 1876 ; also the territories of 
Dakota, Idaho, Arizona, Montana, and Wyoming.^ 

698. Indian Wars. This new movement of population west- 
ward renewed the ancient struggle between the white men and 
the Indians, though the latter were mainly confined, in 1866, 
to special " reservations." Sometimes, however, through one 
cause or another, they left their reservations and came into 
conflict with the immigrants. As the population increased on 
the borders of the reservations, conflicts between the two races 
became frequent. In 1872 and 1873 the little Modoc tribe 
in northern California waged a spirited war with the United 
States. A much more serious war involved the powerful 
tribe of the Sioux, led by their famous chief. Sitting Bull. 
In 1876 General Custer, with his whole force, was surrounded 
by the Sioux in the Black Hills of Dakota, and every soldier 
was killed. General Miles at length subdued the Sioux, and 
the West was freed, for several years, of its dread of Indians. 

699. The West and the Corporations. Through the settle- 
ment of the West, the trusts and the railroads found a new 
field of enterprise and because of the great number of immi- 

In 1868 Congress had repealed an act of 1864, which allowed employers to 
engage laborers in foreign countries. 

In 1882 Chinese laborers were excluded; also lunatics, paupers, and convicts. 

In 1885 the Alien Contract Labor Act positively excluded all foreign laborers 
coming over under contract, if their labor would compete with American labor. 

In 1903 a new immigration act excluded anarchists and laid on every immi- 
grant a head tax of two dollars. 

Another act, in 1907, increased the head tax to four dollars, gave the President 
power to exclude Japanese laborers, and created a commission to study immi- 
gration. See Jenks and Lauck, The Immigration Problem, 305-313. 

' In this same period two famous explorations were made ; the Colorado 
River was explored in 1869; the Yellowstone country, in 1870. 



500 AMERICAN HISTORY 

grants, the trusts could generally secure labor at low rates. 
The immigrants assisted the railroads by developing the lands 
given to the roads by the government. Both the railroads 
and the trusts steadily planned to develop those communities 
founded on their lands, or those that were friendly to their 
interests. They planned to retard those communities where 
they had no influence. Thus these powerful corporations, 
managed by a few men, took part everywhere in the life of the 
West. Through their attempts to make the mass of the popu- 
lation subservient to their own commercial interests, they re- 
vived the question whether the country should be ruled by the 
few or by the many. Therefore, we say that their pohcy 
amounted to a resurrection in American politics of the aristo- 
cratic factor — an organized attempt by the few to control 
the many. 

700. Labor Troubles. This increase of power in the hands 
of a few alarmed the workingmen of the country, especially 
since the capitalists took advantage of the immigration laws 
to bring over numbers of European laborers who would work 
at very low rates, while Chinese, accepting incredibly low 
wages, were also encouraged to come to America.^ Though 
the law which permitted capitaHsts to import labor was 
repealed in 1868, the coming of the Chinese - was not yet 
forbidden. 

On Thanksgiving Day, 1869, in Philadelphia, was organized 
an association of wage workers called the Knights of Labor.^ 

' By the Burlingame Treaty, 1868. 

-They had appeared in California about 1850. The Burlingame Treaty 
guaranteed them the protection of American law. 

* Many similar societies have since been formed. The American Federation 
of Labor was organized in 1881. Some of these societies include workers in 
various trades. Many (the "Unions") confine themselves to a single trade or 
occupation. Of the latter type is the American Railway Union, organized in 
1893. In general, the aim of these societies is to offset the consolidation of 
capital by a corresponding consolidation of labor. The most recent of them, 
the Industrial Workers of the World, differs from the earlier ones in being frankly 
a class organization in distinction from a trade organization. It seeks to organ- 
ize the working class in a world-wide struggle against the capitalist class. 



THE RISE OF INDUSTRIALISM 501 

Their purpose from the beginning is best stated by one of 
their subsequent pubHcations, which denounced "the alarming 
development and aggressiveness of the power of money and 
corporations under the present industrial and political sys- 
tems." The labor societies, like the corporations, were 
brought into prominence by the business troubles that began 
with the panic of 1873. Thus we see that even at the open- 
ing of the twenty-year period following the centennial, our 
country was already bitterly divided between capital and labor. 

During nearly fifty years there had been practically no 
conflict between classes in the United States. Such conflicts 
as had taken place were between localities, or sections, or polit- 
ical parties, over questions of general policy. In this twenty- 
year period conflicts between classes reappeared. What is 
called by an eminent authority ^ the " first great labor revolt 
in our history " may be said to have ushered in the twenty- 
year period. It took place in 1877. A strike on the Bal- 
timore and Ohio Railway was followed by other strikes 
designed to prevent a general reduction in wages. At one time 
100,000 men were on strike and more than 6000 miles of rail- 
road were out of use. At Pittsburg there were desperate 
riots. Much property was destroyed and many people killed. 
Federal troops were sent to Pennsylvania, West Virginia, 
Illinois, and Maryland in response to appeals from the gov- 
ernors of those states. The strike was unsuccessful. It is 
supposed to have cost the country nearly $100,000,000. 

701. The Insistent Problems. From this time forward the 
" labor problem " and the " trust problem " have always 
been present in American politics. They have grown steadily 
more insistent because of the enormous development of 
American manufactures. ^ By degrees these two questions, 

1 Carroll D. Wright. 

- Beginning with the laying of the first Atlantic cable, in 1866, there has been a 
long succession of remarkable inventions. To mention only the most con- 
spicuous : the electric light, the telephone, the electric trolley, all previous to 
1880; the typewriter, 1874; the bicycle, 1876; the typesetter, 1890. Lately 
the gasoline motor and wireless telegraphy have opened new possibilities. 



502 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



and the questions growing out of them, pushed aside all others, 
and at the end of the twenty-year period they were the main 
questions of politics. That condition in which these two form 
the main political contention is what we know as " industri- 
alism." Therefore, the period from 1876 to 1896 maybe des- 
ignated accurately by the phrase the " rise of industrialism." ^ 

702. The Silver Question. At the same time the mone- 
tary question was developing. In 1878 the owners of silver 
mines were urging the government to remonetize silver. 

The large supplies of silver recently 
mined had brought down the price, 
and the owners hoped that if the 
government resumed coining silver 
dollars the prices would go up. 
Their demand was endorsed by a 
popular movement which revived 
the old arguments against paying 
the bonds in gold (section 692). A 
"greenback" party ^ figured in the 
elections of 1878 and polled 1,000,000 
votes. The Greenbackers and the 
mine owners had little in common 
otherwise, but on this one point they agreed. Their joint in- 
fluence was sufficient to induce Congress, in 1878, to pass over 
the President's veto the Bland-AUison Act, which required the 
secretary of the treasury to coin each month not less than two 
million, nor more than four miUion, silver dollars, at the old 
ratio of 16 to I (section 692, note). 

703. The Government in Business. In this act, as in 
others which arc to follow, wc should observe the frankness of 

Two great engineering feats, in which Americans have applied the new science, 
are the Brooklyn bridge, 1870-1883, and the Eads jetties at the mouth of the 
Mississippi, 1879. Of late years, .'Vmerican engineering of all sorts has attained 
the highest excellence. 

• All this time parallel questions were gradually coming clearly before the 
country. What they were will appear in Chapters XXX and XXXI. 

2 It developed largely out of the Granger movement. (See section 694, note.) 




JAMES A. GARFIELD 



THE RISE OF INDUSTRIALISM 503 

the demand to get aid from the federal government in solving 
economic problems. This is one of the tendencies of the 
period we are now studying. It springs from the discovery 
that the federal government, in certain respects, has the wel- 
fare of us all in its hands. One of the matters that brought 
this home to the working classes was the federal control over 
immigration. A demand for the exercise of that control was 
made in 1877, in California, where it took the form of a 
popular agitation against the Chinese. A leader of the 
movement, Dennis Kearny, closed every speech with, " The 
Chinese must go! " At length Congress passed a bill to 
restrict their immigration. President Hayes vetoed it, on 
the ground that it violated existing treaties, but promptly 
negotiated a new treaty with China that gave Congress the 
right to do what it pleased. Eventually, Chinese laborers 
were excluded from the country.^ 

704. Election of 1880. The exclusion of the Chinese was en- 
dorsed by both parties in their platforms of 1880, but neither 
party took decided ground upon any significant issue and there 
was little excitement. The Republican candidate, James A. 
Garfield of Ohio, defeated Winfield S. Hancock of New York. 

705. The United States and South America. The months 
from March to September, 1881, are notable chiefly because 
of the South American program of James G. Blaine, who was 
Garfield's secretary of state. Blaine has often been compared 
with Clay. In one respect, at least, the two followed similar 
policies. Neither cared much about economic questions and 
both were haunted by dreams of imperial greatness. Blaine's 
chief desire was to unite all American republics in a close 
league presided over by the United States. However, he 
was not as tactful as he might have been and created an im- 
pression in South America that the United States might easily 
become an international tyrant. His scheme for practical 

^ The Chinese treaty was drawn up in 1880. In 1882 Congress suspended 
Chinese immigration for ten years. The suspension was repeated in 1892 and 
1902. In 1904 Chinese laborers were excluded indefinitely. 



504 AMERICAN HISTORY 

free trade with South America — through reciprocity treaties 
lowering duties on both sides — was rejected by Congress. He 
failed to rouse public interest in his advocacy of a canal across 
the Isthmus of Panama. Altogether, the episode is remem- 
bered for what he designed, not for what he did.^ 

706. Assassination of Garfield. In July, 1881, the country 
was shocked by the news that a disappointed office seeker, 
Charles J. Guiteau, had assassinated the President, who 
lingered between life and death until September 19. His 
death was followed by the accession of the vice president, 
Chester A. Arthur of New York. 

707. Civil Service Reform. The murder of President 
Garfield aroused interest in the civil service. The murderer 
was probably of feeble mind and had become deranged 
through vain petitioning for undeserved office. Thoughtful 
people felt it would be a benefit to the country if all such 
men were made to realize that public office was beyond their 
reach. A Civil Service Act was introduced into Congress by 
Senator Pendleton, a Democrat, of Ohio. It was supported 
by both parties and signed by President Arthur. This act 
created a bipartisan Civil Service Commission and provided 
for a " classified " list of offices to which, henceforth, appoint- 
ments should be made as a result of competitive examination. 
About 14,000 offices were at once " classified." The number 
has steadily increased. 

708. The Return of the Democrats. President Arthur's 
administration was on the whole an uneventful one politically. 
The tariff was revised in 1883 but was only slightly changed. 
The one great event was the split in the Republican party 
in 1884 when the national convention nominated Blaine, who 
was identified, in the minds of many people, with the old- 
style " spoils " politics. Believing that he would throw all 
his influence against the growing tendency to increase the 

' After a war between" Peru and Chile, he instructed our ministers to attempt 
to restrain the victor, Chile. This interference in their affairs was misconstrued 
by the Chileans. 



THE RISE OF INDUSTRIALISM 



50s 



" classified " civil service, many Republicans left the party 
and supported the Democratic candidate, Grover Cleveland, 
of New York. Cleveland carried all the Southern states, 
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Indiana. He 
received 219 electoral votes against 182 for Blaine. 

709. Renewed Labor Troubles. However, the RepubHcans 
retained control of Congress and consequently very little was 
accomplished by either party. 
President Cleveland vetoed 
301 bills, and Congress was 
not able to pass them over 
the veto.^ Nevertheless, it 
was an important adminis- 
tration during which great 
events took place. Chief 
among them was a great 
series of strikes in 1886. 
Chicago ^ was the center of 
disturbance, but other parts 
of the country were affected. 
Six thousand miles of railway 
were out of use during seven 
weeks. To prevent such oc- 
currences in the future, Presi- 
dent Cleveland advised Con- 
gress to appoint a commission with power to settle all diffi- 
culties between capital and labor, but Congress shrank from 
such an extreme measure. Two years later it established a 
commission for voluntary arbitration. 

710. The Growth of the West. While the Eastern states 
had been distracted by labor troubles, the West had con- 

1 Two interesting laws, not strictly party questions, were the act regulating 
the succession to the presidency (1886) and the act putting all questions of the 
electoral count into the hands of the several states (1887). 

^ A small body of anarchists took advantage of the excitement of the time 
to attack the Chicago police with bombs. Four anarchists were taken and 
executed for murder. All were foreigners. 




GROVER CLEVELAND 



5o6 AMERICAN HISTORY 

tinued its rapid development. This was aided by the success- 
ful termination of the last notable Indian war. The powerful 
tribe of the Apaches were subdued in 1886. Two years 
afterwards, by the Severalty Act, Congress sought to induce 
the Indians to leave their reservations and become regular 
citizens. 

Six new Western states were admitted to the Union ' : 
North and South Dakota, Washington, and Montana, in 1889 ; 
Idaho and Wyoming, in 1890. 

In the latter year the new territory of Oklahoma was organ- 
ized out of part of the Indian Territory. When the Oklahoma 
country was opened for settlement, April 22, 1889, a host of 
settlers poured into it. Towns sprang up as if by magic. 

These changes gave the West increased influence in Congress 
and made possible some of the measures which are now to be 
discussed. 

711. Favoritism of the Railroads. During fifteen years the 
reorganized railroads that resulted from the troubles of 1873 
had been using their great power as they saw fit. We have 
seen that they deliberately favored those who were willing to 
advance their interests (section 694). Their policy was to 
encourage large shippers at the expense of small ones, and large 
towns at the expense of small towns. By what was known as 
" rebating," large shippers received back a percentage of what 
they paid, while small sliippers received no such favors. Rates 
to small towns were higher in proportion than those to large 
cities. Moreover, a group of roads would often " pool " 
rates, — that is, make an agreement among themselves to 
keep rates up and divide all the proceeds of traffic according 
to a stipulated scheme. We have seen that the Grangers be- 
gan the agitation against the favoritism shown by railroads 



' Utah was not admitted because the Mormons tolerated polygamy. By 
the Edmunds-Tucker Act, 1887, Congress prohibited polygamy, and confiscated 
the property of the Mormon Church. In 1890 the Mormon Church ofi'icially 
repudiated polygamy. In 1893 the confiscated property was restored. In 1896 
Utah was admitted under a constitution forever prohibiting polygamy. 



THE RISE OF INDUSTRIALISM 



507 



almost as soon as it appeared (section 694, note). By 1887 
the feeling on the subject had grown so vehement that Con- 
gress passed an Interstate Commerce Act which forbade rail- 
ways doing interstate business to form pools, or to have 
different rates per mile for different distances — for " long 
hauls" and " short hauls " ^ — or to indulge in ''rebating." 
Congress also created the 
Interstate Commerce Com- 
mission to put the law into 
effect. 

712. The Tariff Question 
Revived. About the same 
time President Cleveland 
came to the conclusion that 
the real need of the country 
was a reduction of the tariff. 
In his message to Congress 
in 1887 he used the now fa- 
mous words, " It is a condi- 
tion that confronts us, not a 
theory." He alluded to the 
fact that the revenues of the 
government were $50,000 000 
in excess of its expenditures. 
He advocated a reduction of 
the tariff, which he thus made the main issue in the campaign 
of 1888. The Democrats accepted his views and renominated 
him on a platform urging tariff reduction. The RepubHcans 
nominated Benjamin Harrison of Indiana; they accepted 
President Cleveland's challenge and declared that a high pro- 
tective tariff was their cardinal principle. Though Cleveland 
got the larger popular vote, it was so massed that the majority 
in the electoral college was for Harrison. 

713. The Harrison Administration. Harrison appointed 
Blaine secretary of state. Therefore, in foreign affairs the 

^ The commission was authorized to make exceptions in special cases. 




GRANT'S TOMB 



5o8 AMERICAN HISTORY 

United States resumed the policy attempted in 1881 (section 
705). But now as then there was Httle actual accomplishment 
except the holding of a Pan-American congress, at Washington, 
in 1889. The same year a controversy with England and Ger- 
many, relative to the Samoan Islands, ended in a joint German- 
American protectorate (June 14, 1889).^ 

The Republicans maintained that the one solution for the 
financial troubles of the country was the creation and main- 
tenance of a " home market." To that end, the new tariff 
of 1890, which was largely framed by William McKinley of 
Ohio, aimed to exclude as far as possible European competi- 
tion. It raised the average of the duties charged to some 49 
per cent. 

714. Congress and the Trusts. ]\Ieanwhile, the business 
corporations had combined and recombined, forming larger 
and larger corporations whose power was now enormous. The 
" trust problem " was forced upon the attention of Congress 
by popular clamor, much as the railway question had been 
three years before. The trusts were creating monopolies 
which undersold and broke up the small dealer. They did 
so by putting down prices and selling at a loss until the small 
dealer was ruined. Their immense wealth enabled them to 
bear the loss much longer than he. As soon as he had failed 
and was out of the way, they could, if necessary, put prices 
up and thus get their money back. The popular demand for 
an end of all this led Congress, in 1890, to pass the Sherman 
Antitrust Act. It made many forms of combination illegal 
and punished with fine and imprisonment " conspiracies in re- 
straint of trade," — that is, attempts to estabhsh monoplies.- 

715. Silver. By 1S90 the new states of the West were 
beginning to make themselves felt in federal legislation. 
Again, as in 1878 (section 702), the mine owners and the farm- 

* It lasted ten years. (Sec section 741.) 

* For many years the Sherman .\ct did not produce results. In spite of it, 
in iQoi the United Steel Corporation was formed with a capital of $1,000,000,000, 
probably the most powerful industrial corporation known to history. 



THE RISE OF INDUSTRIALISM 



509 



ers joined hands in another attempt to force up the price 
of silver. These " silver men " induced Congress to pass 
the Silver Purchase Act, by which the secretary of the 
treasury was directed to purchase each month, at market rates, 
4,500,000 ounces of silver which, under certain conditions, 
were to be converted into coin.^ It had been expected that 
these great purchases would cause the price of silver to rise, 
but the effect was only temporary. 
Very soon the price of silver began 
again to fall. The discussion over 
silver had only begun. We shall 
hear much more of it presently. 

716. The Tariff Again. In 1892 
both parties evaded the " silver 
question," but took firm ground 
on the question of the tariff. The 
RepubHcans reaffirmed " the Amer- 
ican doctrine of protection," while 
the Democrats pronounced it "a 
robbery of the great majority . . . 
for the benefit of the few." The 
Republicans renominated President 
Harrison; the Democrats, for the third time, nomisated 
Cleveland. A national People's party, better known as 
" PopuHsts," nominated James B. Weaver ; their platform 
demanded free coinage of silver, and denounced both the 
great parties as being in politics for the sake of " power and 
plunder." The Popuhsts secured 22 electoral votes; the 
Republicans, 145 ; the Democrats, 277.^ 

717. The Homestead Strike. It was plain to all observers 
that the country was in a dangerous, unsettled condition. 




BENJAMIN HARRISON 



1 The treasury was to issue " treasury notes " (paper money) redeemable 
in gold or silver and was to coin the silver purchased by the government In 
order to redeem these certificates. 

- There was also a Prohibition ticket and a Socialist ticket. Neither received 
any electoral votes. 



Sio 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



On three great questions — the tariff, the currency, and the 
relations of capital and labor — there was bitter difference 
of opinion and an event of the presidential year showed that 
the temper of the time might easily produce war. There was 
a great strike, at the Homestead Iron Works in Pittsburg, 
over a reduction of wages. For a time the strikers, on the one 
hand, and the owners, on the other, took the law into their 
own hands. The strikers practically formed an army. The 
Pinkerton detective agency supplied a small but active army 
to the owners. The result was a " private war," not unlike 
those which were carried on in the Middle Ages between great 
barons and their revolted tenants. To restore peace the 
governor of Pennsylvania had to call out the entire militia of 
the state. 

718. Hawaii. In his second administration President Cleve- 
land was beset by difficulties from the day he was inaugurated. 
First of all, his convictions compelled him to take an unpopu- 
lar course with regard to the republic of Hawaii. One of the 
last acts of the preceding administration was the negotiation 
of a treaty annexing Hawaii.^ But this treaty was made 
by Hawaiian revolutionists who had recently dethroned the 
native ruler, and President Cleveland believed that the revo- 
lutionists had had secret assistance from the United States. 
He refused to continue the negotiation, and the American 
flag, which had been raised at Honolulu, was hauled down. 
The Senate, however, insisted upon the recognition of the 
Hawaiian republic. 

719. Venezuela. Only one other foreign compUcation of 
importance '^ arose during this administration. It was caused 

• Originally, Hawaii was a monarchy, under native kings. Early in 1893 a 
revolution took place. The reigning sovereign was deposed and a republic 
proclaimed. Most of the revolutionists were Americans, or of American 
descent. 

* An outstanding contention as to Bering Sea was settled by arbitration in 
1893. The sea was declared a i)artof the open ocean. The United States had 
claimed exclusive control in order to restrain seal hunters. The treaty gave us 
special rights as to seals. 



THE RISE OF INDUSTRIALISM 



511 



by a dispute of long standing between England and Venezuela 
with regard to the boundary of British Guiana. The President 
tried to persuade them to arbitrate, but in 1895 England de- 
cHned. Thereupon, in a message to Congress, the President 
asked for a special commission to compel a settlement. The 
secretary of state, Richard G. Olney, declared that " to-day 
the United States is practically sovereign on this continent 
and its fiat is law upon subjects to which it confines its inter- 
position." Apparently England had not appreciated that 











4J .. ^ 






41 



JlJ 



-^ ^ 




COURT OF HONOR, COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION 

Americans regarded her course as a defiance of the Monroe 
Doctrine. The eagerness with which the action of the Presi- 
dent was commended in America led England to reconsider 
the matter. At length it was adjusted satisfactorily by 
arbitration. 

720. Repeal of the Silver Act. Shortly after his inaugura- 
tion, President Cleveland felt it necessary to call a special 
session of Congress. What is known as " the panic of 1893 " ^ 

^ At the same time the vast Columbian Exposition was in progress at Chicago. 
The year previous, the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America 
had been generally celebrated. The exposition, also designed as a celebration, 
was not opened to the public until May i, 1893. 



512 AMERICAN HISTORY 

had thrown the business world into confusion. Numbers 
of banks had failed and many railroads had gone into the hands 
of receivers. One of the chief causes of the panic was a general 
movement among European investors to get rid of American 
securities. The various disorders in the United States had 
impaired their confidence in their American investments, 
with the result that American securities were thrown upon 
the market at low prices and loans to Americans were refused 
by European bankers. President Cleveland, who was an ar- 
dent believer in the gold standard, thought he could restore 
confidence by making the United States unconditionally a 
" gold " country. Therefore, he urged Congress to repeal 
the Silver Purchase Act. A majority of Congress, made up 
of members of both parties, took the same view and the act 
was repealed November i, 1893. The repeal gave deep of- 
fense to the silver men. They accused the President of dis- 
loyalty to his country. Another turning point had been 
reached in the political battle over silver. The next phase 
of the contest will soon appear. 

721. The Wilson-Gorman Tariff. The Democrats had come 
into power as the friends of low tariff and now they set to work 
to put their beliefs into practice. What is known as the 
Wilson-Gorman tariff ^ went into effect in 1894. It made 
a sweeping reduction of duties, bringing down the average 
from 49 per cent to 40 per cent.- 

722. The Great Strike. Meanwhile there was general dis- 
tress. The troubles in the business world had thrown great 
numbers of workingmen out of employment and in their des- 
peration some of them formed peaceful " armies " ^ to tramp 

1 The bill also provided for an income tax, which, however, the Supreme 
Court pronounced unconstitutional. 

^ As finally passed, his act was a compromise measure which was so unlike the 
bill as first introduced that President Cleveland refused to sign it and it became 
a law without his signature (see Constitution of the United States, Article I, 
section 7). 

' The most noted case was that of "Coxey's army." A band of the unem- 
ployed marched from Massillon, Ohio, to Washington, where they were dis- 
persed by the police without much difBculty. 



THE RISE OF INDUSTRIALISM 



513 



to Washington to demand aid from the government. The 
distress and excitement of 1894 culminated in a great strike 
begun by the employees of the Pullman Car Company of Chi- 
cago, who refused to work on the company's terms. There- 
upon a powerful labor society, the American Railway Union, 
took up the matter and demanded the right to conduct 
negotiations with the company on behalf of the strikers. The 
company refused to negotiate except with its own employees. 




THE MISSISSIPPI JEiriES 



The union contended that the interest of any workingmen 
were the interests of all workingmen, and when the company 
refused to let it act for the strikers, it took a step that began 
a new era in the relations of capital and labor. The presi- 
dent of the union, Eugene V. Debs, ordered a " sympa- 
thetic " strike ; that is, railway employees went on strike not 
because of their own troubles but in order to embarrass 
the railroads and force them to use their influence with the 
Pullman Company on behalf of the Chicago strikers. Dur- 
ing most of the summer of 1894 the railway service of the 



514 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



country was in confusion, while at Chicago there was vir- 
tual civil war. The Pullman Company attempted to re- 
place the strikers by non-union men nicknamed " scabs," 
whom the strikers were determined to keep from working. 
In the conflicts between the two groups of workmen the 
local police authorities were barely able to maintain their 
authority. 

At length the President interfered. As the strike was ob- 
structing the mails, he made use of United States troops 
to secure the regular operation of mail trains. An injunc- 
tion was served on Mr. Debs, forbidding him to interfere with 
interstate commerce. He ignored the injunction. The fed- 
eral authorities then arrested him and sent him to prison. 

The Pullman Company carried 
its point, so far as the union 
was concerned, and privately 
came to a new understanding 
with its own workmen. 

723. The New South. In 
1895, however, there was suffi- 
cient prosperity to sustain the 
" Cotton States and Interna- 
tional Exhibition " at Atlanta. 
Piedmont Park, where the 
buildings stood, was the very 
ground on which, thirty years 
before, Sherman planted his bat- 
teries to shell the city. This 
exhibition was a remarkable 
All along this line, the abundance of monumcnt to the change which 

water power has led to profitable , , , , • 1 o 1 

manufacture. had taken place in the South 

during those thirty years. It 
showed that the South was once more rich and powerful. The 
cotton industry was still its chief concern, but the sugar in- 
dustry in Louisiana was also of great importance. Agri- 
culture, however, was no longer the sole material interest 




THE FALL LINE 



THE RISE OF INDUSTRIALISM 



515 



of the South. Cotton mills in the Carolinas, iron mills in Ala- 
bama, had begun to compete with the mills of the North. 
The Atlanta exhibition marked the point at which the ravages 
of the great war had, at last, been repaired. The year 1895 
is thus an important date in national history, as well as the 
birthday of the " New South." 

724. The Rearrangement of Parties. The growth of manu- 
factures in the South has had a direct effect upon politics. 
It introduced a movement 
away from the traditional 
Southern policy of free trade 
and toward the idea of pro- 
tection. The movement has 
progressed slowly, but it has 
contributed to make still 
more complex the question of 
the tariff and its effects upon 
different parts of the Union. 

However, the effects of 
this movement revealed 
themselves slowly and it is 
doubtful whether, in the 
election of 1896, they played 
a part. That election turned, 
not on protection — though 
the Republicans renewed their endorsement of protection — 
but on silver. The silver men in both parties had not for- 
given the repeal of the Silver Purchase Act (section 720). 
They were resolved not to support any party that would not 
declare for free coinage of silver. They put the question to 
the Republicans at their national convention. The RepubH- 
cans answered by declaring themselves " opposed to free coin- 
age of silver except by international agreement." Thereupon 
the silver men in the convention, led by Senator Teller of 
Idaho, seceded from the Republican party. In the Demo- 
cratic party, on the other hand, the silver men had a majority. 




WILLIAM Mckinley 



Si6 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



The gold-standard men seceded. At their head was President 
Cleveland.^ 

The election of 1896 is further marked by the appearance 
of a new and very remarkable Democratic leader, William J. 
Bryan of Nebraska. He was one of the most conspicuous 
of the " free silver " champions and was nominated for Presi- 
dent both by the Democrats and the Populists. Nevertheless, 

Mr. Bryan received only 176 
electoral votes, while the Re- 
publican candidate, William 
McKinley, of Ohio, received 
271. 

725. The Dingley Tariff. 
As the Republicans also got 
control of Congress, legislation 
in favor of silver was, for the 
moment, out of the question. 
The victorious Repubhcans 
now set to work to reverse the 
action of the Democrats in 
relation to the tariff. The 
Wilson-Gorman tariff was re- 
pealed and a new one — known 
as the Dingley tariff — was 
established. It brought duties back to about where they 
stood under the tariff of 1890, and in some cases put them 
still higher (July 24, 1897). 

726. End of the Twenty Years. We have now reached the 
end of the twenty-year period (section 696). We have traced 
the rise of industrialism and have watched its effect upon con- 
ditions. They may be briefly summed up as follows : 

First. The South, having recovered prosperity and devel- 
oped manufactures, began to divide upon the question of 

1 Many of the "gold Democrats" voted for the RepubHcan candidate. 
Others supported a "National Democratic" ticket. Their candidates were John 
M. Pahner of Illinois, and Simon B. Buckner of Kentucky. 




WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN 



THE RISE OF INDUSTRIALISM 517 

protection, while on the question of free silver most of the 
South combined with most of the West. As a result of this 
shifting of interests, a number of Southern Democrats had 
gone over to the Republicans, while many Northern and 
Western Republicans had joined the Democrats. In a word, 
neither " Republican " nor " Democratic " meant the same 
thing as in i860. How far this shifting of parties would go 
was one of the problems of 1897. 

Second. Industrial development and increased immigra- 
tion had -revolutionized the relations between capital and 
labor. On the one side, there had grown up great corporations, 
aristocratic in their attitude, and, on the other, workingmen 
had formed powerful associations to oppose capital. During 
the twenty-year period the two forces had grown more and 
more hostile. At the close of the period one of the chief 
problems was how to adjust their clashing interests. 

Third. A succession of business troubles had produced deep 
dissatisfaction with the American system of coinage. This 
dissatisfaction, being largely sectional, threatened to divide 
the Union, not into North and South, but into East and West. 
How to consolidate the interests of the whole country so as 
to make such a division impossible was also one of the chief 
problems of the day. 

To deal with all these problems was the formidable task of 
the victorious Republicans in 1897. The boldest statesman 
might well have shrunk from the magnitude of the undertaking. 
However, it was now suddenly complicated in a new and sur- 
prising way. American liistory was drawn into a new current ; 
our affairs became entangled with European affairs, and all 
internal problems were temporarily thrust aside. When, 
after a momentous interruption, they were again taken up, 
they had developed new forms. What it was that arrested 
them we shall now see. 



Selections from the Sources. Macdonald, Select Statutes, Nos. 96-98, 
100-127; Hart:, Contemporaries, IV, Nos. 160, 179, 197-209; Johnston, 



5i8 AMERICAN HISTORY 

American Orations, IV, 238-420; Applcton's Annual Cyclopedia, 1875- 
189S ; numerous annual publications such as The Statesman's Yearbook, 
The World Almanac. 

Bibliography. Channing, Hart, and Turner, Guide, 498-542 ; 
Dewey, Finarcial History, 331, 3S9-360, 383, 402, 414, 434-436, 463 ; 
CoMAX, Industrial History, 415-417, 424-427. 

Secondary Accounts. Wilson, Division and Reunion, sees. 140- 
148; and American People, V, 104-269; Johnston, Politics, 242-279; 
Stanwood, Presidency, 356-569; Ford, National Problems; Cambridge 
Modern History, VII, 447-485, 512-543, 655-674, 697-722; Larned, 
History for Ready Reference, V, 3577-3S8i ; VI, 154, 553, 684; Brown, 
Lower South, 247-271; Cable, Negro Question; Tillinghast, Negro 
in Africa and America; Curtis, Constitutional History, II, 397-440; 
Dewey, Financial History, sees, 159-161, 171-196; Noyes, American 
Finance, 17-254; Taussig, Tariff History, 230-409; Stanwood, ^wen- 
can Tariff Controversies, II, 192-394 ; Coman, Industrial History, 269- 
312; Wright, Industrial Evolution of the United States, chaps, xiii, 
xiv, xxii, xxiii; Bogart, Economic History of the United States, 
chaps. XX, xxii, xxv; N. S. Shaler (ed.). The United States, Vol. I, 
chap, vii; Vol. II, chaps, i, ii, xii; Sparks, National Development, 
chaps, i-v, xviii ; McCulloch, Men and Measures of a Half Century, 
chap, xxxiii ; D. A. Wells, Recent Economic Change, chap, ii ; 
H.A.DLEY, Railroad Transportation, 129-139; Latane, United States and 
Spanish America, 198-214. 

Topics for Special Reports, i . Effects of the War on American Life. 
2. Causes of the Formation of Great Corporations. 3. The Develop- 
ment of the Power of Corporations. 4. The Immigration Problem. 
5. Labor Organizations in America. 6. American Relations with South 
America, 1877-1898. 7. The Silver Question. 8. Favoritism of the 
Railways. 9. The Hawaiian Episode. 10. Strikes, 1877-1898. 11. The 
New South. 12. Conflicting Interests of the East and the West. 



CHAPTER XXX 

RETURN INTO WORLD POLITICS 

727. The Cuban Revolt. In 1895 an insurrection broke out 
in Cuba. It was aided by a " Junta," or council, of wealthy 
Cubans living in the United States. The sympathy of the 
Americans was enlisted and many adventurous men joined 
the Cuban revolutionists in their struggle against Spanish 
authority. The fighting was exceptionally merciless. The 
Spaniards kept control of the western part of the island, but 
seemed powerless to put down the rebellion, though they 
forced the country people to leave their farms and come into 
" reconcentrado " camps, where there was great suffering due to 
insufficient food. Many Americans, some of them revolu- 
tionists, some legitimate traders, were arrested and imprisoned. 

As early as 1896 a committee was appointed by the Senate 
to investigate the situation in Cuba. No serious action was 
taken, however, until 1898, when a private letter of the Span- 
ish ambassador found its way into print. In the published 
translation, this letter of Ambassador De Lome appeared to be 
an insult to President McKinley. It aroused violent indigna- 
tion. His recall was demanded and Spain promptly acceded 
to the demand. 

728. The Destruction of the Maine. At Havana, about the 
same time, there were public demonstrations of ill-will toward 
resident Americans. Thereupon the battleship Maine was 
ordered to Havana as an intimation that the Americans would 
be protected by their own government. The explosion of a 
submarine mine,^ on the night of February 15, 1898, destroyed 

1 The Spanish government maintained that the ship was blown up through 
some defect in its own magazine. A commission investigated the wreck and 
reported that it had been blown up from without. In 191 1 a second investiga- 
tion confirmed the report of the first. 

.519 



520 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



the Mahte and 260 of its crew. In response to an instant de- 
mand for explanation, General Fitzhugh Lee, consul-general at 
Havana, reported : " I do not think it (the mine) was put 
there by the Spanish government. I think it was the act of 
four or five subordinate officers." Nevertheless, the American 
people generally held the Spanish government responsible. 
Intense anger took possession of the United States. Every- 
where the popular watchword was, " Remember the Maine ! " 
The excitement during the next five weeks can hardly be 
overstated. It was stimulated by a vote of Congress, March 




THE DEWEY MEDAL 

9, placing $50,000,000 at the disposal of the President " for 
national defense." Senator Proctor of Vermont, on March 
17, made a speech in which he described the horrors he had 
recently seen while visiting Cuba. This speech still further 
incensed the American pubHc. At length, on March 28, 
President McKinley sent a message to Congress with the 
report of the commission which had investigated the Maine. 
From that moment there was no resisting the general demand 
for war.^ 



1 On April 11 the President had asked for authority to intervene in Cuban 
afifairs. On April 20 he was authorized to do so, and the Cuban republic was 
recognized as an independent power by the United Stales. On April 22 a 
blockade of the Spanish part of the island was ordered. On April 23 the Presi- 
dent called for 125,000 volunteers. On April 25 he announced the withdrawal 
of the Spanish minister from Washington, and Congress passed a joint resolution 
declaring that war existed. 



RETURN INTO WORLD POLITICS 



521 



729. Battle of Manila. The first event of the war took 
place in the Orient. Commodore Dewey with the Pacific 
squadron of our navy was off the coast of China. With six 
warships, — the most powerful being the cruiser Olympia, 
of but 5870 tons, — he sailed at once for the Philippines. 
At Manila, under the guns of the Spanish forts, lay a fleet 
of four cruisers, together with other ships of antiquated type, 
On May i, 1898, Dewey entered the harbor and opened fire, 
A short but brilliant engagement ended in the destruction of 
the Spanish fleet. 

730. War on the Atlantic. In the Atlantic, Admiral WilHam 
Sampson was the chief naval commander. Associated with 
him was Admiral 

W. S. Schley. 
They established a 
blockade of the 
Cuban coast and 
made preparations 
to meet a Spanish 
fleet, under Ad- 
miral Cervera, that 
was known to have 
sailed from the 

Cape Verde Islands. This fleet was sighted off Martinique, 
May 12. Both the American admirals were then roving 
the seas, in the vicinity of Cuba, on the lookout for Cervera. 
On May 27 Admiral Schley got word that Cervera had 
anchored in the harbor of Santiago. The next day he 
blockaded that port. Admiral Sampson joined him and a 
naval siege of Santiago was begun. 

731. The Invasion of Cuba. Meanwhile, an army of in- 
vasion under command of General Shaffer had been organized 
at Tampa.-^ It landed in Cuba, not far from Santiago, June 22. 

1 Only a small part of the United States forces were employed in Cuba. The 
bulk of the volunteers were gathered in various camps of instruction. These 
camps were badly managed, and tj^ihoid fever proved far more fatal to oui 




522 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Advancing westward, the Americans found themselves, July 
3, with the fortifications of El Caney upon their right and 
San Juan Hill upon the left. They struck right and left at 
the same time. El Caney was taken by General Lawton. 
At the same time San Juan Hill was stormed, while Colonel 
Theodore Roosevelt^ carried the neighboring Kettle Hill. 
The Americans now had Santiago at their mercy. 

732. Battle of Santiago. Meanwhile, in the hope of securely 
" bottling up " Cervera, Lieutenant Hobson had performed a 
daring feat. Accompanied by only seven seamen, he took 
the collier Merrimac into the entrance of the harbor, and there 
sank the vessel. As the American successes on land had now 
made the capture of the city only a question of time, the 
Spaniards decided upon a last attempt to save their fleet. 
On July 3 Cervera made his way past the wreck of the Merri- 
mac and steamed out of the harbor. The American fleet, 
however, was fully prepared for his attack and in the sharp 
fight that followed took of sank every one of his ships. 

733. The Round Robin. The Americans now pushed their 
operations against Santiago city, which surrendered July 17, 
There was still a Spanish army at Havana, but the Americans 
were in no condition to advance against it. Local conditions, 
bad food, and improper equipment had resulted in so much 
sickness that the officers decided upon a singular course. 
They signed a " round robin " to General Shafter, declaring 
" this army must be moved at once or it will perish." Ac- 
soldiers than were the Spanish bullets. In fact the inadequacy of the War 
Department formed a public scandal. The soldiers at the front were supplied 
with impure food and heavy clothing unfit for tropical service. This dis- 
graceful mismanagement was redeemed by private energy. No one was more 
conspicuous in counteracting the inadequacy of the War Department than the 
noted millionaire, Miss Helen Gould. 

1 At the opening of the war he was assistant secretary of the navy. Resign- 
ing his office, he organized the Rough Riders, a cavalry command composed in 
part of cowboys, in part of Eastern university men. 

Another distinguished officer who joined the United States army at the out- 
break of the war was the Confederate cavalry general, Joseph Wheeler. He 
served with distinction throughout the Santiago campaign. 



RETURN INTO WORLD POLITICS 523 

cordingly, the army was transported to a camp of recuperation 
on Long Island, August 7. 

734. End of the War. Two other campaigns were going 
forward during the siege of Santiago. General Miles landed 
in Porto Rico, July 25, and quickly subdued the island. In 
the Philippines General Merritt, accompanied by a Philip- 
pine exile, Aguinaldo, besieged Manila. The city was taken 
August 13. 

Even before the capture of Manila, Spain had made over- 
tures for peace. On August 12 a ''protocol," or preliminary 
agreement, was signed at Washington. The negotiations 
which followed were not entirely concluded until December 10. 
In the final agreement Spain recognized the independence of 
Cuba, and consented to its temporary occupation by the 
American forces ; Porto Rico, Guam, and the Philippine 
Islands were ceded to the United States ; Spain was to receive, 
in return, $20,000,000.^ 

735. The Anti-imperialists. This treaty gave offense to 
certain Americans who felt that the war, which had been under- 
taken to set free an oppressed people, had been converted un- 
fairly into a war of conquest. They also maintained that a 
republic Hke ours should not undertake to govern a subject 
country — as we should have to do if we retained the Philip- 
pines. They denounced the course of the administration as 
*' imperialistic " and were known, themselves, as " anti- 
imperialists." However, this opposition was not sufficient 
to prevent the ratification of the treaty, February 6, 1899. 

736. The Philippine War. The anti-imperialists grew still 
more bitter against the administration when war broke out 
between the Filipino revolutionists, led by Aguinaldo, and the 
American troops. In fact the fighting had begun (February 
5, 1899) before the treaty was ratified. Anti-imperiaHsts 
both in and out of Congress now made vigorous attempts to 
persuade the government to make peace, acknowledge the 

^ It is estimated that the war cost the United States $842,000,000. See 
Dewey, " Financial History," 467. 



524 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Philippine republic, and withdraw from the islands, but they 
were unable to shape the course of events. The administra- 
tion pushed on the Philippine War, which continued during 
1899 and was still raging at the time of the presidential election 
in I goo. 

737. Election of 1900. The Republicans renominated 
McKinley ; for vice president they named Colonel Roosevelt. 
The Democratic candidate was again Mr. Bryan. The matter 
which was most discussed in this campaign — the one which 
was uppermost, probably, in the minds of the voters — was 
the new issue of " imperialism." On the old issue of the cur- 
rency the two parties reiterated their platforms ^ of four years 
previous. Now, as then, almost all the gold-standard men 
supported McKinley. He also received the support of all 
ardent imperialists, who brushed aside the Democratic protest 
against the " seizing of distant islands . . . whose people can 
never become citizens." The personal popularity of Colonel 
Roosevelt, who had captured the popular fancy by his gallant 
action at San Juan, was also a great source of strength to the 
Republicans. McKinley was reelected by an electoral major- 
ity slightly larger than his previous onc.'^ 

738. The Problem of Dependencies. The Philippine War 
was pushed on with unceasing vigor, and in 1901 Aguinaldo 
was captured. Detached bands of revolutionists, however, 
held out during another year. Eventually the islands were 
reduced to obedience. 

Through the acquisition of Porto Rico ^ and the Philippines 

1 A bill establishing the gold standard had passed Congress and was signed 
by the President, March 14, 1900. In their platform of 1900 the Republicans 
stated, "We renew our allegiance to the principles of the gold standard." The 
Democrats in their platform declared for "free and unlimited coinage of gold 
and silver at . . . the ratio of 16 to i." 

2 There were ten other parties in the field. Six of them nominated presiden- 
tial candidates. Of these the Prohibition candidates received the largest 
popular vote. None of them secured any electoral votes. 

' A government had been provided for Porto Rico by an act of Congress 
which was passed in April, 1900. The island was treated as a subject depend- 
ency separate from the United States. A tariff against imports from Porto 



RETURN INTO WORLD POLITICS 525 

a new constitutional question had arisen. What power did 
Congress have over these new possessions? Were they part 
of the United States, or were they subject countries? The 
anti-imperialists made a last stand upon this issue. They 
maintained that if we were to hold these countries at all, we 
must include them in the Union and give them the full protec- 
tion of American law. One of the chief events of the year 
1 901 was a decision of the Supreme Court which laid down the 
principle that Congress might rule the new possessions as it 
saw fit. 

739. Colonial Government in the Philippines. Under the 
authority of Congress the President set up a civil goverrmient 
in the PhiHppines. WilHam H. Taft, of Ohio, a distinguished 
federal judge, became their first civil governor, July 21, 1901. 
As the islands form a difficult problem in government — many 
of the inhabitants being Mohammedans with local customs 
utterly different from ours — a complete scheme of government 
was not worked out until a year later. Meanwhile (March 
8, 1902), a special tariff was enacted for the Philippines. 
The Philippine Government Act (July i, 1902) created a full 
system of administration and guaranteed to Filipinos most 
of the civil rights of American citizens. An excellent school 
system was estabHshed. At length, in 1907, they were al- 
lowed to have an elective assembly closely supervised by the 
American governor and his executive council. 

740. The Cuban Problem. The affairs of Cuba were also 
put on a new basis. The miHtary governor, General Leonard 
Wood, accomplished wonders in the way of revolutionizing 
its sanitary conditions and putting an end to yellow fever. 
A convention was called to provide the island with a constitu- 
tion. But before the constitution went into effect the United 
States formulated the attitude it would henceforth maintain 
with regard to Cuba. The Piatt amendment to the Army Bill 
of March, 1901, laid down three propositions: (i) Cuba 

Rico was established. The act was defended by the Republicans and con- 
demned by the Democrats in the campaign of 1900. It went out of force, 1901. 



526 AMERICAN HISTORY 

must bind herself not to part with any of her territory; 
(2) she must not contract debts she cannot pay ; (3) she must 
acknowledge the right of the United States to intervene, 
should her government fail to preserve order. The Cuban 
constitutional convention agreed to these terms, June 12, 
1901. Less than a year afterward, Cuba's first president was 
inaugurated and the American troops were withdrawn from 
the island.^ 

741. Efifects of the War. The ardor of war had given a new 
turn to American politics. The chief significance of the events 
we have been following hes in this : they waked Americans 
to a consciousness that their country was enormously powerful 
and might, if it chose, play the role of a first-class power. 
Eagerness to play such a role led to general support of another 
annexation which was effected by President McKinley. The 
little republic of Hawaii was annexed by the United States, 
July 7, 1898. If our country is to hold the Philippines, 
the Hawaiian Islands are of immense advantage as a naval 
stepping-stone between San Francisco and Manila. Other 
stepping-stones are also needed. Therefore, President 
McKinley concluded treaties with Germany and England 
which allowed the United States to occupy several Pacific 
islands, notably the most desirable one of the Samoan group 
(section 713). 

742. " The Open Door." When the Spanish War began, 
few countries except England understood the United States. 
The continent of Europe still looked upon Americans with 
a sort of kindly tolerance. But their eyes were opened by the 
efl&ciency of the American navy and when, in 1900, the United 
States took a hand in general diplomacy, there was no longer 
any disregard of our opinion. The issue which signalized our 

* In 1903 the United States assisted Cuba to recover prosperity by reducing 
the sugar tariff 20 per cent and thus opening our market to Cuban sugar. How- 
ever, the relations between the two countries arc still of an equivocal sort. In 
1906, owing to the political disorders in Cuba, the United States intervened and 
for some time controlled the government. Subsequently Cuba was again made 
independent. 



RETURN INTO WORLD POLITICS 



527 



return into world politics concerned China. That great but 
feeble empire was in danger of dismemberment. There was a 
tendency among the European powers to advocate a policy 
that would end by dividing China into distinct countries, 
each dependent upon a government in Europe. Our secre- 
tary of state, John Hay, in 1899 proposed to the powers that, 
instead of partitioning China, all should unite to maintain 
its integrity and open its trade to all on equal terms. This 
was known as the " open-door " policy. 




THE AMERICAN POSSESSIONS 

743. The Boxer Episode. At first the European powers, 
with one exception, made evasive replies to Secretary Hay's 
proposal. England was the exception. The British ministry 
indorsed the plan. However, circumstances very soon put 
a new aspect on the American proposal. The Chinese natu- 
rally were bitterly hostile to dismemberment, and a Chinese 
patriotic society, the " Boxers," in 1900 stirred up an insur- 
rection. The German ambassador was assassinated. For- 
eigners who had taken refuge in their legations were besieged, 
for nearly two months, by furious mobs. The gratitude of 
the Chinese for the friendship of the United States now be- 



528 AMERICAN HISTORY 

came apparent, and presently the imperial government com- 
municated to Secretary Hay the hopeful news that while it 
was unable, for the moment, to suppress the insurrection, the 
legations at Pekin were still safe. Acting on this information, 
an international expedition marched from the coast to relieve 
them. On August i, 1900, the Boxer revolt ended with the 
arrival of the foreign soldiers at Pekin. 

744. Triple Agreement. This episode rcenforccd the Ameri- 
can argument against attempting to dismember China. The 
United States and England were now joined by Japan in a vig- 
orous assertion of the open-door policy. The three were said 
to hold the " moral balance of power " in Chinese affairs. 
For the time, at least, the scheme of dismembering China was 
set aside. ^ The, Chinese imperial government agreed to pay 
indemnities to all the Western nations for the harm done their 
people by the Boxers. 

745. Revival of Internal Issues. With the close of the year 
1900 the United States may be said to have taken its place 
among the great powers of the world. FeeHng that they had 
done so, and that they were secure in their new position, the 
American people turned their attention again to internal 
conditions. The currency question was allowed to drop.^ 
The tariff question was for the moment at a standstill, because 
neither the Republicans nor the Democrats were all of one 
mind on the subject, and both parties felt safer in taking up 
other problems. The obvious question of the hour was the 
condition of business. From 1901 until now an overshadow- 
ing question in American pohtics has been the relation of 
business to legislation. 

746. " The Business Man's Party." The purpose of the 
supporters of McKinley in 1900 was to make the Repubhcan 
party preeminently the " business man's party." The special 

' A further check was the defeat of Russia, one of the chief advocates of 
dismemberment, in her war with Japan, 1905-1906. 

* As a consequence of this tacit dropping of the currency question, both parties 
at the next election nominated candidates fully committed to the gold standard. 



RETURN INTO WORLD POLITICS 529 

champion of that purpose was McKinley's campaign manager, 
Marcus A. Hanna of Ohio. It was to strengthen such a 
policy that the Repubhcans in their platform had asserted 
" the necessity and propriety of honest cooperation of capital 
to meet new conditions of business and especially to extend 
our rapidly increasing foreign trade " ; they condemned, how- 
ever, all " combinations to restrict business " or to " create 
monopolies." Upon the question of trusts — soon to become 
the chief issue in politics — the Republicans, as late as 1900, 
were comparatively noncommittal. The Democrats, on the 
contrary, had made the trusts their especial object of attack, 
and had proclaimed " an unceasing warfare " against them. 
As the foreign complications were now cleared away, the chief 
question became — what is the real aim of Hanna in demand- 
ing a " business man's party " ? 

747. The Hanna Policy. The answer of Hanna and his 
following was prompt and clear. They pointed out that the 
United States had lately increased its volume of business in a 
way that staggered the imagination. American wealth was 
piling up with immense rapidity. The country was more 
prosperous, they argued, than ever before. They attributed 
all this to two causes : (i) the tariff, and (2) a general atti- 
tude on the part of the government that inclined it to shape 
legislation so as to benefit the large investors. Such was 
Hanna's conception of the country's needs. 

748. The Distribution Policy. His enemies took a view of 
the situation utterly different. The great increase in the vol- 
ume of business in late years they did not deny. They ad- 
initted that American wealth was becoming fabulous. None 
the less they maintained that the country was in a dangerous 
condition. They said to Hanna, in substance : Your policy 
takes no thought of the small business man, only of the large 
one ; the great investor is tenderly cared for in your policy ; 
while the small investor is crowded out. What you are aiming 
at, is not truly a " business man's party," but a " rich man's 
party." In a word, they demanded less thought about the 



530 AMERICAN HISTORY 

volume of business and more thought about the way its bene- 
fits were distributed. They raised the cry that the rich were 
getting richer and the poor were getting poorer. 

749. Hanna's Influence Declines. President McKinley 
had a sure instinct for what the people wanted. He appears 
to have perceived, in the course of 1901, that a strong opposi- 
tion to Hanna was growing up inside the Republican party. 
His extraordinarily sensitive nature divined, when the move- 
ment was just beginning, a tendency in his own party to call 
Haima's policy a return toward aristocracy. He knew that 
it would never do to let the " business man's party " become 
the " rich man's party." He knew, also, that in the vice 
president, Mr. Roosevelt, the enemies of Hanna inside the 
party might find a powerful leader. Therefore, in the course 
of the year, he began cautiously to intimate that the time 
had come to " reform " the commercial and economic system 
of the country. 

750. Assassination of McKinley. What reforms he had 
in mind we do not know. On September 6, at the open- 
ing of the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, President 
McKinley was shot by an anarchist named Czolgosz. He 
died September 14. His amiable and sympathetic nature 
caused him to be universally lamented. 



Selections from the Sources. Macdonald, Select Statutes, Nos. 128- 
131; Hart, Contemporaries, IV, Nos. 180-196; Moore, Digest of In- 
ternational Law, I, 48, 243 ; IV, 611 ; V, 213, 375 ; VI, 105 ; Richardson, 
Messages and Papers, X; Caldwell, Territorial Dcveloptncnt, 213-255; 
Wheeler, Santiago Campaign ; Hoar, Autobiography, II, 304-329 ; 
Roosevelt, Rough Riders; Funston, Memories of Two Wars; Schley, 
Forty-five Years under the Flag, chaps, xxiv-xxvi ; Long, New American 
Navy. 

Secondary Accounts. Coolidge, The United States as a World Power, 
chaps, v-viii ; Foster, American Diplomacy in the Orient, chap, 
xiii; CuvRiiAT^, Philippine A fairs; Willis, Our Philippine Problem; 
Sparks, The Expansion of the American People, chap, xxxvi; Latane, 
America as a World Power, and United States and Spanish America, 
174, 175, 214-220; Wilson, American People, V, 269-300; Cambridge 



RETURN INTO WORLD POLITICS 531 

Modern History, VII, 674-686 ; Larned, History for Ready Reference, 
VI, 6s, 171, 225, 258, 367, 583 ; Elson, Side Lights, II, 352-401 ; Dewey, 
Financial History, sees. 197-202 ; Carpenter, American Advance, 288- 
331; Callahan, Cuba, 453-496; Maclay, United States Navy, III, 39- 
440; TiTHERiNGTON, Spanish American War ; Brooks, War with Spain; 
Mahan, Lessons of the War with Spain. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. The Cuban Revolt. 2. The American 
Army in the Cuban War. 3. The Anti-imperialist Movement. 
4. American Rule in the Philippines. 5. America in the Orient. 6. The 
Issues of 1900. 



CHAPTER XXXI 

THE NEW AGE 

751. Theodore Roosevelt. The remarkable man who now 
became President had already revealed himself as one of those 
highly distinctive natures that inspire their followers with 
unlimited devotion and arouse in enemies fierce dislike. In 
the eyes of his followers he was his country's greatest good ; 
in the eyes of his enemies, its greatest evil. In whichever 
category we place him, we shall all agree that his tremendous 
forcefulness profoundly affected his time.^ 

One of his first conspicuous achievements was the settle- 
ment of the anthracite coal strike of 1902. This strike, in 
which the coal miners were led by John Mitchell, was a 
particularly bitter one. The mine owners took an uncom- 
promising position. Coal ran short and a large part of the 
country was threatened with coal famine. The President, 
though without any legal warrant to do so, intervened. He 
brought the miners and owners together and secured the ap- 
pointment of a commission by which the strike was settled. 

It is possible that his success in that connection gave a new 
turn to his thoughts. At any rate, it was the beginning of 
a course he followed steadily thereafter. Because of it, his 
enemies sometimes accused him of being a socialist. His 
great rival, Mr. Bryan, declared that he had " stolen the 
thunder " of the reforming group which Mr. Bryan himself 

^ Perhaps his most valuable achievement previous to his succession to the 
presidency was accomplished as commissioner of the ci\il service. Largely 
through his endeavors about 100,000 offices were withdrawn from politics and 
opened to competitive examination. Continuing this reform while President, 
he secured the enlargement of the classified civil service so as to include some 
234,000 ofl&ces. 

532 



THE NEW AGE 



533 



represented. The course in question consists in using the vast 
influence of the government to break down whatever appears 
to be tending back toward a revival of aristocracy. That there 
is such a tendency to-day is freely admitted. Both the soil 
of the United States and its business interests are concen- 
trated in the hands of comparatively few people. The large 
business concerns tend to 
combine and crush out the 
smaller ones, reducing their 
5wners to dependent posi- 
tions. One of Mr. Roose- 
velt's popular achievements 
consisted in frustrating such 
an attempted combination. 
The Great Northern Rail- 
way, the Northern Pacific, 
and the Chicago, Burling- 
ton, and Quincy were con- 
templating a " merger." 
The President caused his 
attorney-general to bring 
suit under the Sherman 
Antitrust Act of 1890 to 
prevent the merger. In 
1904 the Supreme Court 
sustained the President and 
held the merger to be illegal.^ 

752. The Panama Canal. A project which appealed to the 
ardent imperialism of the President was the Panama Canal. 
We have seen that as far back as 1846 the United States made 
a treaty on this subject with Colombia (section 532). At that 
time two routes were under consideration. The alternative 
route crossed the state of Nicaragua. England held the key 

1 The year previous a stringent antitrust act had been passed requiring cor- 
porations that do an interstate business to open their books to government 
inspection. 




Copyright by Harris and Swing. 
THEODORE ROOSEVELT 



534 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



to the Nicaragua route, which was then more popular than 
the Panama route. The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, negotiated 
in 1850, provided that whichever route should be chosen, 
both England and America should control it jointly. Subse- 
quently both parties lost interest in the canal. When a French 
company, under Ferdinand de Lcsseps, stepped in and went 
to work building a canal at Panama, Americans took no notice. 
President Hayes tried in vain to rouse them, saying that the 

proposed canal would be " part of 
the coast line of the United States." 
However, De Lesseps failed, his 
company went bankrupt, and the 
canal question again came to a 
standstill. It was revived by an 
incident of the Spanish War. The 
battleship Oregon, in 1898, was at 
San Francisco. In order to join 
Sampson's fleet it had to steam 
13,000 miles, rounding Cape Horn. 
Immediately there was a demand 
to cut the isthmus by a canal. 

Two complications had to be 
straightened out. One was the 
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty; the other 
was the French company of De 
Lesseps. England showed her friendly feeling toward the 
United States by consenting to a termination of the treaty. 
By the new Hay-Pauncefote Treaty,^ November, 1901, Eng- 
land gave up all claim to take part in the management of 
the canal. The French company offered to sell its property 
and rights to the United States government for $40,000,000. 
Congress, June 28, 1902, authorized the President to buy out 
the Frenchmen and build the canal. 

Thereupon a new problem arose. After a treaty had been 
negotiated with Colombia, that country refused to ratify it 

' In force, February 22, 1912. 




JOHN MITCHELL 

President of the United Mine 
Workers of America. 



THE NEW AGE 



535 



CARIBBEAN 



(September 14, 1903). However, Colombia, like ourselves, 
is a federation. The canal would Ke entirely within the 
borders of the state of Panama. Knowing that it was 
practically sure of the support of 
the United States, Panama seceded 
from Colombia and declared itself 
a separate repubhc, November 3, 
1903. It was promptly recognized 
by the United States,^ and Colom- 
bia made no attempt to recover the 
seceded state by force. On Febru- 
ary 26, 1904,^ a treaty was made 
between Panama and the United 
States giving the latter full control 
of a strip of land from sea to sea, 
across the isthmus.^ 

753. Election of 1904. The mas- 
terful President encountered much 
opposition inside his own party. 
Those Republicans who wished, be- 
fore all else, to make their party 
" the business man's party," were 
alarmed at his desire to bring busi- 
ness within the scope of national legislation. However, the 
sudden death of the anti-Roosevelt leader, Senator Marcus A. 




PACIFIC 



THE CANAL ZONE 



1 There was a rival plan. A company had been formed to utilize the Nica- 
ragua route, and Congress instructed the President that if he could not secure 
satisfactory agreements with Colombia "within a reasonable time and upon 
reasonable terms" he was then to go to work on a canal through Nicaragua. 
One reason why the matter was pressed upon Colombia so urgently was the 
fear that Congress might reconsider its action and adopt the Nicaragua route 
after all. The revolution in Panama is supposed to have been hastened by this 
fear. Enemies of the President have not hesitated to say that he was informed 
of the revolutionary movement in advance. 

^ Negotiated towards the close of 1903. 

* By an act of Congress, March 4, 191 1, the United States has undertaken 
to fortify the canal. It is thus, as President Hayes prophesied, "part of the 
coast line of the United States." 



536 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



Hanna of Ohio, disorganized his faction. President Roose- 
velt was renominated. The Republican platform declared for 
protection but laid especial stress on the belief that corpo- 
rate business should be regulated by Congress. The Demo- 
crats nominated Judge Alton B. Parker of New York. The 










MODERN INVENTION 
A steam shovel used in digging the Panama Canal. 

real issue of the campaign was whether or not the country had 
confidence in the President.^ The event showed that it had. 
The President received 336 electoral votes against 140.^ 
754. The Roosevelt Policies. The President now increased 



' There is more than a fanciful similarity to the election of Jackson in 1832. 
In each case, economic and administrative questions, though they counted for 
much, were subordinate to the strictly personal question of confidence in a 
man. 

' Three other candidates received each a considerable popular vote : Eugene 
V. Debs, Socialist, 402,000; Thomas E. Watson, Populist, 113,000; Silas 
Swallow, Prohibitionist, 259,000. 



THE NEW AGE 



537 



his hostility to the trusts. During his second term of office 
he lent his influence to support a variety of measures designed 
to reduce the power of capital. Incidentally, the phrase 
" malefactors of great wealth " was coined by the President, 
accepted by the popular fancy, and fixed upon his opponents 
as a damaging label. Among the conspicuous measures of 
this period were the Elkins Act (1903), designed to abolish 
rebating (section 711) ; the Hepburn Act (1906), to strengthen 
the Interstate Commerce Commission ; and the Pure Food 



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Law (1906), to protect the pubhc against the adulteration of 
foodstuffs. 

The President also gave his support to a movement of re- 
cent origin that is as significant as any of these others. What 
is known as " conservation " is an attempt to counteract the 
recklessness with which Americans have squandered their 
natural resources, especially their forests. Popular agitation 
to save the forests led to a conference on conservation called 
by the President at Washington, in May, 1908. Shortly after- 
ward the National Conservation Commission was estabhshed. 



538 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



It drew up the first thorough report upon the natural resources 
of the United States. At the close of 1908 a joint Conserva- 
tion conference, composed of the governors, or official repre- 
sentatives, from 22 states and territories, met at Washington 
and discussed this report. Vigorous action to save the for- 
ests of the country has been brought about by this new inter- 




THE ROOSEVELT DAM, ARIZONA 
A monument of the conservation policy. 



est in conservation. As a result vast areas have been set 
apart as forest reserves.' There is now a national Bureau 
of Forestry headed by the national forester.- 

^ At the end of 191 2 there were 163 national forests with an acreage of 
187,000,000. Among them are the Appalachian forest and the White Mountains 
forest. Both of these were reserved by act of Congress in March, 1911, with a 
view to protecting the watersheds of streams. 

^ The same impulse that led to forest reserves has also led to great works of 
irrigation to reclaim western "deserts." The Roosevelt dam, in Arizona, is 
one of the most famous instances. 



THE NEW AGE 539 

The masterful temper that made President Roosevelt, in 
some respects, a kind of second Jackson, made him also a bold 
and resourceful administrator of foreign affairs. 

As early as 1901 Germany was brought to make acknowl- 
edgment of the Monroe Doctrine. Germany did so when 
she refrained from collecting by force of arms debts due 
the Germans from Venezuela. To offset this self-restraint 
of Germany, President Roosevelt in 1902 sent to Congress 
what has sometimes been called the " big stick " message. 
He maintained that the United States ought to exercise a 
sort of police authority over our southern neighbors, and not 
allow them to use the Monroe Doctrine as an excuse for 
repudiating obligations. 

In 1905 the President put his views into practice. As San 
Domingo, though heavily in debt, would not satisfy its credi- 
tors, the United States intervened, appointed a receiver of cus- 
toms for San Domingo, and effected its deliverance from debt. 
A treaty with San Domingo, confirming the course of President 
Roosevelt, was eventually ratified by the American Senate. 

A permanent understanding between the United States and 
Latin America was effected in 1907. Our secretary of state, 
Elihu Root, had recently made a tour of South America and 
convinced its peoples of the good intentions of the northern 
republic. As a consequence, in a session of the Hague Con- 
ference^ the representative of the United States, together with 
most of those from Latin America, advocated a plan which 
was formulated by the foreign ministef of the Argentine 
Republic, Seiior Drago. This was the proposition that all 
members of the Hague Conference should submit their finan- 
cial claims to arbitration. 

755. Resurrection of an Old Problem. Meanwhile the 
United States had become involved in other foreign compli- 

^ The International Court of Arbitration, commonly known as The Hague 
Conference, consists of representatives of forty-three governments to promote 
the cause of arbitration as a substitute for war. It meets periodically at The 
Hague, where it was instituted July 29, 1899. 



540 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



cations which came upon us as a surprise. In October, 1906, 
the emperor of Japan ^ complained to Washington that the 
San Francisco schools were discriminating against Japanese 
children. Japan pointed out that the United States, by a 
treaty made in 1894, had guaranteed to Japanese in this coun- 
try the same treatment accorded to American citizens. 



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EFFECTS OF THE FIRE IN SAN FRANCISCO FOLLOWING THE 
EARTHQUAKE OF 1906 

One of the greatest catastrophes in our history was the earthquake at San Francisco 
(igo6), which destroyed property valued at $300,000,000 and rendered homeless 
half a million people. 

This Oriental difl&culty revealed to Americans that their fed- 
eral system might yet, if rudely administered, cause trouble. 
The old problem of how to adapt foreign policy to the wishes 
of all parts of a diverse country sprang again to life.- It 
was resurrected through a disagreement of East and West 

' During the recent war between Japan and Russia, Americans had openly 
sympathized with Japan. By invitation of the American President, envoys of 
the two powers met at Portsmouth, N.H., in 1Q05, and made peace. 

2 Review the Mississippi Controversy, chap. xvi. 



THE NEW AGE 



541 



over the question of the Japanese school children — the East 
wishing to grant the emperor's demand ; the West opposing 
it. The first impulse of the President was to say that the will 
of the majority must prevail — which in this case meant that 
California must not be allowed to do as it pleased with regard 
to its own pubhc schools. Here, again, was that old question 
of the possible despotism of a majority of states over a minor- 
ity ; ^ here was the threat of 
a possible separation between 
East and West more dreadful 
even than the earlier sepa- 
ration between North and 
South. The California pro- 
test brought to mind, in all 
thoughtful people, the Hart- 
ford Convention and all simi- 
lar incidents in our history. 
The President was no excep- 
tion. Second thought led him 
to change his position. He 
began negotiating with Japan, 
used persuasion with the 
Californians, and at length 
effected a compromise. The 
San Francisco authorities 
changed somewhat their attitude toward the Japanese; and 
■ the emperor of Japan himself forbade the lower classes of 
his subjects to emigrate to America. Friendly relations were 
completely restored in November, 1908, when the two gov- 
ernments pledged themselves to assist in maintaining the 
integrity of China. 

756. Chinese Friendship. Meanwhile, the Chinese had 
come to appreciate that America was their genuine friend. 
In 1907 William H. Taft, who had become secretary of war, 
made a tour of the Orient. His reception in China marked 

^ Review the Hartford Convention, chap. xx. 




WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT 



542 AMERICAN HISTORY 

a new era of cordial friendliness between East and West. 
Not long after his return, the President recommended to 
Congress that it remit the portion of the Boxer indemnity 
(section 744) not yet paid. Congress did so. 

757. Election of 1908. The great personal popularity of 
President Roosevelt at the end of his second term enabled him 
to dictate his party's choice of presidential candidate in 1908 
— the secretary of war, William Howard Taf t of Ohio. 

The Democrats returned to their former allegiance to Mr. 
Bryan, whose relation to his party during the eight years 
between 1900 and 1908 is one of the strange things in our 
history. In 1900 he was called " the peerless leader " and 
followed with utmost enthusiasm. In 1904 he appeared to 
have lost his hold upon the party ; he hardly seemed to be one 
of the leaders. But in 1908 he was again incontestably the 
chief Democrat in America. It is probable that his new pop- 
ularity was firmer than the old. Disinterested observers 
noted in him a maturer strength of character, a better knit 
intellectuality, and concluded that time and responsibility 
had ripened his powers. As of old, he had the gift of inspir- 
ing great numbers of men with absolute confidence in his 
judgment. 

The campaign was little more than a trial of strength be- 
tween the influence of President Roosevelt on the one hand, 
and the influence of Mr. Bryan on the other. Both platforms 
attacked the trusts, and in each party there was a loud demand 
for a revision of the tarifl". To judge from the result of the* 
election. President Roosevelt was still the dominant power in 
America. His candidate received 321 electoral votes against 
Mr. Bryan's 162.^ 

758. The Division of the Republicans. As soon as the 
masterful personality of Mr. Roosevelt was withdrawn from 
politics^ it became plain that the Repubhcan party was divided 
against itself. On the one hand, there was a group of capital- 

' The new state of Oklahoma, admitted in 1907, took part in this election. 
* See section 760. 



THE NEW AGE 



543 



ists who wished to resurrect the " business man's party " 
of McKinley's day (section 746) ; on the other hand, certain 
younger RepubHcans who demanded a broadly popular policy 
definitely antagonistic to the large capitaUsts. Conspicuous 
as the leaders of this group were Robert M. La Follette, sena- 
tor from Wisconsin, Gifford Pinchot, chief forester, and James 
R. Garfield, formerly secretary of the interior. 

President Taft appears to have thought that his first duty 
was to effect a compromise between these hostile factions of 




Copyright by N. L. StebMns. 
UNITED STATES STEAMSHIP DELAWARE 



his party. Being of a conciliatory disposition, he attempted, 
in 1909, to harmonize his party on the subject of the tariff. 
What is known as the Payne-Aldrich tariff had been framed 
chiefly by Senator Aldrich of Rhode Island, the confessed 
leader of the capitalistic wing of the RepubHcans. It was vehe- 
mently opposed by the insurgents, who stood for a sweeping 
reduction of duties. President Taft, however, signed the 
Payne-Aldrich bill. Doubtless he thought it as good a meas- 
ure as could be passed through Congress at that moment, and 
he shrank from encouraging strife inside his party. But 



544 AMERICAN HISTORY 

the insurgents never forgave him for his " surrender," as they 
termed it, to the capitalists. 

Two measures heartily approved by President Taft were 
incorporated in the bill which estabhshed the Payne-Aldrich 
tariff. The result was the estabHshment of a Tariff Board ^ 
(i) for scientific investigation of the subject, and (2) the Cor- 
poration Tax Law, which laid an annual tax of i per cent on 
the earnings of all corporations. 

A later measure of the Taft administration, akin to the 
Corporation Tax Law, was the law creating a permanent court 
of commerce authorized to try all cases that involved the 
commerce legislation of the federal government. However, 
this measure roused again the anger of the insurgents. They 
held that the President had secured for the court so little 
power as to render its establishment scarcely significant. 

In fact, the breach between the President and the insurgents 
overshadowed for the moment all other political questions. 
It was further widened by a lamentable scandal in the Depart- 
ment of the Interior. The secretary, Richard A. Ballinger, 
was accused by the chief forester, Gifford Pinchot, of im- 
proper connection with large deals in public lands. After a 
long trial the charges were held to be not proven. Thereupon, 
the accuser, Mr. Pinchot — to the great wrath of the insur- 
gents — was dismissed from the public service - (1910). 

759. Coalition of Insurgents and Democrats. An incident 
of the spring of 1910 increased the confidence of the insur- 
gents in their fighting strength. The opposite wing of their 
party — nicknamed the " stand-patters " — were the main- 

* The Tariff Board continued until 191 2 when Congress refused to make 
further appropriations for its support. In 191 1 the President had opposed 
Congress when it sought to revise the tariff without consultation with the 
board. Three bills were passed making large reductions of duties. President 
Taft vetoed all three on the ground that Congress should wait until the board 
had determined how, and to what extent, American conditions were actually 
affected by the tariff. That same year, the board made a voluminous report 
on the woolen industry. 

' Subsequently, under pressure it would seem, Mr. Ballinger resigned. 



THE NEW AGE 545 

stay in Congress of the speaker of the House, Joseph Cannon, 
of lUinois, who had ruled it with a firm hand since 1903. Most 
of his power was taken from him by a coaUtion of insurgents 
and Democrats; the coaHtion named a special nomination 
committee to appoint the regular committees of the House. 

Tliis event foreshadowed a poHtical change in 1910. The 
elections of that year returned to Congress increased numbers 
of insurgents and Democrats. The latter secured control 
of the House and elected as speaker, Champ Clark of Missouri. 

And now, through a singular turn of events, the insurgents, 
for a brief period, became the President's supporters, while the 
other wing of his party opposed him. In January, 191 1, Presi- 
dent Taft informed Congress that he had negotiated a treaty 
with Canada providing for closer trade relations between the 
two countries.^ He asked Congress to make certain reduc- 
tions in the tariff in order to enable the treaty to take effect. 
The request was resolutely opposed by the tariff men. How- 
ever, a combination of insurgents and Democrats finally passed 
through both Houses a bill which met the President's wishes 
and made reciprocity - with Canada possible. It was Canada 
herself that eventually brought the plan to nought by turning 
out of office the Liberal ministry which had negotiated the 
treaty and choosing a Conservative ministry which promptly 
broke off negotiations.^ 

760. The Arbitration Treaties. Two other measures that 
commended themselves to the President's strong desire for 
peaceable and harmonious courses, were devised that same 
year. On August 13, 1911, treaties of arbitration were signed 
at Washington, one with France, the other with England. 
The treaties were practically identical. In each case the con- 

1 In the ptevious March the President began negotiations by inviting Canada 
to send delegates to Washington for a conference. 

2 That is to say, concessions made by both sides so as to produce a close 
commercial relation between the two countries. 

^ Sir Wilfred Laurier, the Liberal premier, decided in hopes of ratifying the 
treaty to dissolve Parliament and hold a new general election. This election 
revealed unexpected strength in the Conservative party. 



546 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



tracting powers declared that they were " resolved that no 
future difference shall be a cause of hostihties between them or 
interrupt their good relations and friendship. ' ' Therefore, they 
agreed in future to submit all their differences to arbitration. 
The consideration of the arbitration treaties was signalized 
by the return to national affairs of ex-President Roosevelt.* 

He threw all his influence 
against the treaties, arguing 
that situations were bound to 
arise in which no nation would 
submit to arbitration. In all 
other situations, he reasoned, 
we do not need such treaties. 
However, in spite of his great 
influence, the treaties were 
eventually ratified (191 2). 

761. New States. An- 
otherimportant event of 191 1 
was the passage of a joint res- 
olution of Congress admit- 
ting to the Union Arizona 
and New Mexico. A pre- 
vious act of Congress admit- 
ting them had been vetoed. 
The President had refused 
his consent because New Mexico did not accept the boundary 
now existing between herself and Texas ; and because Arizona 
favored the plan of allowing the voters, at any moment, to " re- 
call" an elected judge and compel him to stand for reelection. 
Congress sustained the President and required the new states to 
make an end of their offending laws before entering t^he Union. 
762. The Judiciary under President Taft. Conspicuous 
among the later events of the administration of President 

' Following his retirement from office he spent a year abroad; returning, he 
took active interest in the state politics of New York. Thereafter, for some 
time, he confined his attention to editorial writing in the Outlook. 




WOODROW WILSON 



THE NEW AGE 547 

Taft, was the government's prosecution of the Standard Oil 
Company as a combination in restraint of trade. In 191 1 a 
verdict was obtained dissolving that great trust. This was 
nearly, if not quite, the last gratifying experience that befell 
the President. A man of tact, a behever in graciousness, he 
had been called upon to deal with fierce movements and har- 
monize forces that were incompatible. His administration 
was destined to close in bitterness, as will be seen when we 
glance at the events of 191 2. Before turning to that year of 
political revolution it is well to hnger an instant upon Presi- 
dent Taft's appointments to the federal judiciary. They 
were characterized to an unusual degree by a disregard of 
party lines. This large-minded pohcy of nonpartisanship in 
judicial appointments culminated in the choice of a former 
Confederate, Edward D. White, of Louisiana, to be supreme 
justice. 

763. Election of 1912. During most of President Taft's 
administration it was taken for granted that he would be re- 
nominated by the Repubhcans in 191 2. But as the presi- 
dential year approached, the opposition to him within his party 
gained strength. A demand arose for ex-President Roosevelt 
to take his old place in politics and become the leader of the 
insurgents. At length he decided to do so, and early in 191 2 
announced himself a candidate for the Repubhcan nomina- 
tion. There resulted a very bitter struggle between the two 
wings of the Republican party for control of the national con- 
vention. The faction of the President was successful and 
secured his renomination. Thereupon the followers of Mr. 
Roosevelt, taking "Progressive" for their party name, effected 
a separate organization and nominated their leader for 
President.^ 

The Democrats nominated Woodrow Wilson, governor of 
New Jersey, formerly president of Princeton University. 
Though a newcomer in politics who had passed with startling 

^ Some of the original insurgents did not take part in this movement; 
notably, Senator La FoUette. 



548 AMERICAN HISTORY 

suddenness from private to public life, he had in a brief period 
made a name for his fearless and able opposition to poUtical 
corruption. The platform on which he stood promised " imme- 
diate downward revision " of the tariff; committed the party 
to the establishment, as soon as possible, of an income tax ; ^ 
advocated the election of senators by direct popular vote;^ 
and declared its antagonism to all those political and economic 
views commonly spoken of as " capitalistic." ^ 

In November Governor Wilson gained a sweeping victory. 
He received 435 electoral votes against 88 for Mr. Roosevelt 
and only 8 for President Taft. The Democratic popular vote 
numbered 6,293,120; the Progressive, 4,119,582; the Re- 
publican, 3,485,082. The Socialists cast 901,839 ballots for 
Eugene V. Debs, but failed to secure any votes in the electoral 
college.'* 

^ In 1909 a Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution authorizing the 
national government to tax incomes was proposed bj' Congress and sent to the 
states for ratification. It received the necessary number of ratifications, and 
became part of the Constitution (1913). When the Democratic Congress 
assembled in April, 1913, an Income Tax Law was part of its program. 

2 In 191 2 Congress proposed an amendment to the Constitution, altering 
the phraseology of Article I, section 3, so as to permit the election of senators 
by the people. It was ratified in 1913. 

'The Democratic platform also declared: "We favor the exemption from 
tolls of American ships engaged in coastwise trade passing through the Panama 
Canal." This statement referred to a contention that had grown out of the 
Panama Canal Act (191 2), which provided that American ships passing through 
the canal on their way from one American port to another need not pay toll. 
England promptly protested that this exemption was in violation of the Hay- 
Pauncefote Treaty of 1902, which stated that "the canal shall be free and open 
to ... of all nations ... on terms of entire equality, so that there shall be 
no discrimination against any such nation or its citizens or subjects in respect 
to the conditions or charges of trafSc or otherwise." There resulted sharp 
differences of opinion as to the interpretation of this provision of the treaty. 
What to do about the Panama tolls was one of the problems confronting the 
victorious Democrats in 1913. 

For the platforms of the three parties, as well as those of the Socialists and 
Prohibitionists, see the "World Almanac" for 1913, 687-699. 

* The campaign of 1912 will be notorious in our annals because of an attempt 
to assassinate a presidential candidate. A lunatic named Schrank fired on Mr. 
Roosevelt as he was leaving his hotel in Milwaukee. Fortunately, the wound 
inflicted was not serious. 



THE NEW AGE 549 

764. The Political Situation in 1913. The inauguration 
of President Wilson, followed by the calling of a special ses- 
sion of Congress to reduce the tariff/ marked a revolutionary 
moment in the history of American politics. Incidentally, 
it may be noted that President Wilson revived a practice which 
had been in disuse for more than a hundred years, and instead 
of sending to Congress a written message, appeared before a 
joint session of the two Houses and read them his message, 
advocating an i mediate lowering of duties. 

But the great significance of the year 1913 is found in 
matters infinitely more profound than any detail of ofl&cial 
procedure. First of all, the election of a Southerner ^ to the 
presidency was but one of a number of indications that the 
separation between North and South had at last passed away. 
In the thirty-six years between 1876 and 191 2, the country 
had advanced from a nominal reunion to an actual one. The 
American nation had developed from a promise to a reality. 

It was largely by the votes of Northerners and Westerners 
that the Southerner became President. He appointed a 
Westerner, Mr. Bryan, secretary of state. However, these 
were not the only significant events of the political revolution 
— ^for such it deserves to be called — of 1912-1913. The 
spht in the Republican party was even more positive evidence 
that old issues had passed away, old allegiances had lost their 
appeal, old organizations were crumbhng. We ask ourselves 
— what had caused this breaking up of pohtical tradition, 
this regrouping of men, and rearrangement of parties ? 

In any period of pohtical transition the causes of events are 
Ukely to be numerous and usually hard to trace. The present 
age is highly complex. Many forces working subtly together 
have compounded the American nation and awakened it to 



1 The management of a new tariff bill concerning duties was intrusted to 
Oscar L. Underwood of Alabama, while Champ Clark was again elected speaker 
of the House. 

2 President Wilson was born at Staunton, Virginia (1856), and spent much 
of his early life in South Carolina. 



550 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



the consciousness that a new day has dawned, that great 
problems unknown to our fathers demand immediate solution. 
To trace all these forces in detail is here impossible. We can- 
not even attempt to review all the political movements through 
which they have expressed themselves. But among those va- 
rious movements, three stand forth as of especial significance, 
destined, sooner or later, to exert upon the hfe of the nation a 
profound influence. These are : the movement for woman's 

suffrage ; the reform of cities ; and 
the labor movement. 

765. Woman's Suffrage. In 
America, as we have seen, women 
have always played a great part. 
A natural result of their general 
activity was the movement in the 
middle of the nineteenth century 
to enlarge the education of women. 
In connection with it antiquated 
laws inherited from the feudal ages, 
which restricted the holding of 
property by women, were swept 
away. These reforms were fol- 
lowed by a demand to extend 
the suffrage to women. Woman's 
suffrage was first accomplished, in 
a limited way, in Kansas in i86i.^ It was gradually ex- 
tended until, in 191 2, the women of a number of states 
possessed the ballot on precisely the same footing as men. 
This extension of the suffrage was not approved, however, 
by all women and gave rise to a vigorous campaign of dis- 
cussion. The forces in favor of change were organized by 

' In 1861 in Kansas women could vote on school matters only. By 1913 
school suffrage had been accorded to women in thirty-two states. In 1869 
the women of Wyoming received the suffrage on equal terms with men. Five 
other states made the same extension — Colorado, 1893; Utah, 1896; Idaho, 
1896; Washington, 1910; California, 191 2. In several states women taxpayers 
were given the suffrage on questions of taxation. 




JANE ADDAMS 



THE NEW AGE 551 

the National American Woman Suffrage Association, having 
for president the Reverend Anna Howard Shaw ; for first vice 
president Miss Jane Addams, of Chicago. Chief in opposi- 
tion stood the New York State Association opposed to Woman 
Suffrage, the president being Miss Ahce H. Chittenden. The 
great event of 191 2, from the point of view of the suffragists, 
was the extension of the ballot to women by CaHfornia.^ 

766. Municipal Problems. Foreigners have pointed out 
that our system of government has one great defect : we do 
not manage our cities well. Long ago Jefferson said that 
with the development of great cities, the test of our democ- 
racy would come. The explanation appears to He in two facts : 
city politics are not always attractive and they involve the use 
of great sums of money. Because, as a rule, city poHtics do not 
attract the most ambitious men, many cities have fallen under 
the control of " rings " of professional politicians. As these 
rings administer vast sums, they are enabled in various ways, 
both direct and indirect, to make profit for themselves. To- 
day a third of the whole American people five in cities. If 
these cities are corrupt politically, the poHtics of the nation 
cannot possibly be kept pure. To recover the cities from cor- 
ruption is one of the most pressing needs of the time, and 
recently various schemes for reorganizing city government 
have been tried in various parts of the country. One of these 
is known as the '' commission plan." In the old-fashioned plan, 
the city was a miniature state, with a mayor instead of a 
governor, and a common council corresponding to the legis- 
lature. Commission government ^ aims to replace this cum- 

1 In 191 2 the Progressives, in their national platform, declared themselves 
in favor of "equal suffrage to men and women alike." Some of the presidential 
electors named by the Progressives were women. 

With the opening of Congress, in 1913, began an agitation to secure an amend- 
ment to the Constitution establishing equal suffrage. 

The entire movement is treated at length in the official suffragist publication, 
" History of Woman Suffrage," and briefly but effectively in " A Study of the 
Woman Suffrage Movement in America " by Miss Sarah Barnwell Elliott. 

^ It was devised at Galveston, 1901. The original scheme has been varied by 
several cities, notably by Houston, in Texas, and Des Moines, in Iowa, 



552 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



W^ii::. . 



i^ '•' '•' •• V«W 7^ -^ .^ ^ -^ 
" ^1 ,i \}~^ 77 " "" -- -.- 



bersome machinery, for which under modern conditions the 
city has httle real use, by a commission, or board, composed 
of a few members who shall be answerable for the manage- 
ment of the city, much as a board of directors is answerable 

for the management of 
a railway. This simple 
plan has been approved 
by a large number of 
cities from one ocean to 
the other. Many people 
are convinced that it 
has solved the city prob- 
lem and that the bad 
features of American 
politics will speedily dis- 
appear. 

767. Initiative, Refer- 
endum, Recall. Under- 
lying commission govern- 
ment is the beUef that 
the mass of the people 
should have direct con- 
nection with the govern- 
ment. TMs idea has 
taken hold of multitudes 
of Americans. There 
appears to be a growing 
conviction that we should 
have, on the one hand, 
fewer officers, so as to 
be able easily to fix the blame for mistakes, and, on the 
other hand, larger legislative groups so as to make it im- 
possible to bribe a majority of the voters, either directly or 
indirectly. To bring about the latter result various innova- 
tions have been devised. For one thing, there is the new 
method of choosing senators: namely, by popular vote instead 









IN CHICAGO 



THE NEW AGE 



553 



of by the votes of legislatures.^ The " recall," to which 
President Taft objected in connection with the Arizona judi- 
ciary, is a still more drastic measure which has been adopted 
in a number of places. It enables the electors to recall from 
office an official with whom they are dissatisfied, and replace 
him by another. Two measures which are generally thought 
of together are the initiative and the referendum. The former 
has been defined as " the giving to the people the right of pro- 





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Mar. 19, 1910 


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Norris Resolution 


Jun. 7, 1910 


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Lenroot Railroad Motion 


Jun. 7, 1910 


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^^"Progressive" LM'"Standpat" |.®iDemocrat I 1 No-Vote 

HOW WISCONSIN KEEPS A WATCH ON ITS CONGRESSMEN 
Published record of votes of each representative on important bills. 



posing legislation to be acted upon " ; the latter as " the 
referring of legislation to the people for final rejection or 
acceptance." Where the initiative is established, the voters 
may state their views to the legislature in a petition, and the 
legislature is bound to consider any measure thus proposed. 
Where the referendum is estabhshed, every important act of 
the legislature must be approved by popular vote in order 
to become law. The initiative and referendum have been 
established in many cities and in not a few states.^ 

1 See section 760, note. 

2 In 1897 Iowa applied the referendum to franchise grants, while Nebraska 
made initiative and referendum optional in cities. During the next eight years 



554 AMERICAN HISTORY 

768. The Labor Problem of To-day. All these questions of 
popular government are complicated by the labor problem. 
An enormous number of Americans depend for existence on 
their wages as laborers. It is estimated that some thirty- 
million Americans own almost no property and that some ten 
millions do not have enough food to make them efficient work- 
men. One of our most imperative questions is : what shall 
be done for these people? In a Democratic country where the 
people are sovereign, such a state of things cannot long endure. 
But will it be remedied peaceably and wisely, or will it be al- 
lowed to grow worse and worse, and finally end in revolution ? ^ 
It is chiefly to better the condition of the mass of the people 
that the enemies of the trusts persist in their attack. ^ They 
maintain, as we have seen, that by consolidating capital into 
large holdings we are practically returning to a system of aris- 
tocracy. They insist that the natural resources of the coun- 
try are in the hands of a few people who virtually control 
the thirty millions of the poor. Our society embraces : 
these 30,000,000 that are practically without property ; an- 

both measures were introduced in several Western states. In 1906 the first 
adoption of them in the East was made by Delaware. Since then the progress 
of sentiment in favor of initiative and referendum has been rapid in all parts 
of the country. 

1 The presidential year was signalized by two portentous incidents of the 
conflict between capital and labor. 

At Lawrence, Massachusetts, a strike of textile workers focused the attention 
of the country not only because of the numbers involved but also because it was 
led by a powerful new organization, the Industrial Workers of the World. 
This association has introduced into America a new tendency which has been 
fully developed in France and is known as "syndicalism." The Industrial 
Workers of the World seek to consolidate the entire class of wage workers, 
irrespective of occupation, in solid opposition to the capitalistic class. 

At Indianapolis, forty-five members of labor organizations were indicted 
for "conspiracy," that is to say, on the charge of being indirectly responsible 
for an action committed by some one else. The action in question was the 
dynamiting of the property of certain capitalists. Most of the accused were 
eventually sentenced to imprisonment. 

2 Late in 191 2 the Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of the merger of 
the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railways as a violation of the Sherman 
Antitrust Law. 



THE NEW AGE 555 

other enormous body who hold dependent positions under 
control of the capitalists ; a very much smaller body, fairly 
independent ; and less than a milHon who are rich. 

769. The General Situation in 1913. Such are the groups 
into which modern Americans might be divided from the point 
of view of economics. But there is another way of grouping 
them which is equally significant. They raight be grouped 
according to the attitude they take toward the problems of the 
time. Thus considered, they might be classified as follows : 
(i) the frankly capitalistic group, who have revived the aris- 
tocratic idea, and hold that the few are entitled to the earth 
and that the many are born to be their servants ; (2) a great 
number of moderates of all ranks, from milhonaires to me- 
chanics, who still hold the ideals of democracy, who repudiate 
the reactionary doctrine of the aristocrats, but also refuse to 
go to the extreme advocated by the Socialists ; (3) these latter 
beUeve that all our troubles could be legislated away if the 
government would but abolish private property and take into 
its own hands the administration of the entire wealth of the 
country ; (4) that powerful group of wage workers represented 
by the society of the Industrial Workers of the World, who op- 
pose the Socialists on the ground that they are not sufficiently 
radical, and whose social philosophy, known as " syndicalism," 
(section 768, note) is the relentless antithesis of " capitahsm." 

Though Americans may be thus distinctly classified, this 
classification breaks down when we turn from economics and 
social theory to pohtics. Only one of these groups has an 
organized political party that is its acknowledged vehicle 
of expression. The SociaHst group forms also the Socialist 
political party. On the contrary, the syndicahsts have refused, 
so far, to take part in pohtics, maintaining that our whole 
pohtical system is wrong and needs to be overthrown. As 
to the capitahstic group, they are represented in both the 
Democratic and Repubhcan parties, while even the Progres- 
sives are accused by their enemies of harboring the "male- 
factors of great wealth." There can be no doubt that the 



556 AMERICAN HISTORY 

great group of the moderates is distributed among all the 
three parties that cast electoral votes in 191 2. 

In such a condition of affairs all men must inevitably ask 
themselves : how will this division of Americans into distinct 
economic groups affect in time the jwlitical parties ? Sooner 
or later those political groups which form the parties will 
gradually alter their composition, until, at length, each such 
group will be dominated by some one of the social groups. 
How this might come to pass, how the different parties would 
be transformed in the process, was the absorbing question 
before the student of American history in 1913. 

The forecasts of the future made by various observers were 
widely different. But in one respect all agreed. The Ameri- 
can people had reached a parting of the ways. In some form 
or other, American society would have to be reorganized so 
as to strengthen the forces for good and weaken the forces 
for evil. In all imaginative spirits there was a great sense of 
approaching change which led them frequently to have 
recourse to Tennyson's Hnes, written at a moment not 
dissimilar : 

" E'en now we hear mid inward strife 
A motion toiling in the gloom, 
The spirit of the years to come 
Yearning to mix himself with life. 

"A slow developed strength awaits 
Completion in a painful school, 
Phantoms of other forms of rule, 
New majesties of mighty states : 

"The warders of the growing hour, 
But vague in vapor, hard to mark, 
And round them sea and air are dark 
With great contrivances of Power." 

Selections from the Sources. Same as for chapter xxx. Also, the ab- 
stract of recent legislation (coming down to February i, 1913) in Ray, 
Introduction to Political Parties and Practical Politics; and Who^s Who 
in America. 



THE NEW AGE 557 

Secondary Accounts. Bryce, The American Commonwealth (edition of 
1910) ; Encyclopedia Britannica (nth edition) ; 'Lkk^'ed, History j or Ready 
Reference, article " United States " ; Baedeker, United States; Hart, ^c- 
lual Government; Hasken, The American Government ; Leroy-Beaulieu, 
United States in the Twentieth Century ; Mijnsterberg, America Traits; 
Brooks, As Others See Us and The Social Unrest; James, The American 
Scene; Ross, Changing America; Van Dyke, The American Spirit; 
Dewey, National Problems, chap, xviii ; Andrews, Our Own Time, 
711-713, 865-878, 891-892; BoGART, Economic History, chap, xvii; 
CoMAN, Industrial History, 355-361 ; Adams and Sumner, Labor 
Problems; Commons, Trades Unionism; Mitchell, Organized Labor; 
Laughlin, Industrial America, chaps, ii-v; Spargo, Socialism; Hill- 
quit, Socialism in Theory and Practice; Pinchot, The Fight for Con- 
servation; Van Hise, Conservation of National Resources; Dewey, 
Financial History, 476-516; Jenks, The Immigration Problem; Faust, 
German Element in the United States; Johnson, Four Centuries of the 
Panama Canal; Foster, A Century of American Diplomacy, chap, xii; 
Latane, America as a World Power, chap, xii-xviii ; Giddings, 
Democracy and Empire; Eliot, American Contributions to Civilization. 

Bibliography. Channing, Hart, and Turner, Guide to the Study 
of American History, 545-585; Writings on American History (now 
issued by American Historical Society in its Annual Reports) ; Annual 
Library Index; Dewey, Financial History, 476-477, 491-492 ; Coman, 
Industrial History, 415-417, 426-427; Larned, History for Ready 
Reference (revised edition). 




mmmmim,ius:t 



THE REPUBLIC 
Designed by Daniel Chester French for the Columbian Exposition 



THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER 

Francis Scott Key 

Oh ! say, can you see by the dawn's early light 

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming — 
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight. 

O'er the ramparts we w-atched, were so gallantly streaming ! 
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, 
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. 
Oh ! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? 

On that shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, 
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, 
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep. 

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses ? 
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam. 
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream ; 
'T is the star-spangled banner ; oh, long may it wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ! 

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore 

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion 
A home and a country should leave us no more? 

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution. 
No refuge could save the hireling and slave 
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave ; 
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. 

Oh ! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand 

Between their loved homes and the war's desolation ! 
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land 

Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation. 
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just ; 
And this be our motto, " In God is our trust," 
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. 



APPENDIX A 

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 
(Agreed to July 4, 1776) 

[From a facsimile of the original parchment] 
In Congress, July 4, 1776 

THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED 
STATES OF AMERICA 

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people 
to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and 
to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to 
which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect 
to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which 
impel them to the separation. — We hold these truths to be self-evident, that 
all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with cer- 
tain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit 
of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among 
Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. — That when- 
ever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right 
of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, lay- 
ing its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, 
as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Pru- 
dence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be 
changed for light and transient causes ; and accordingly all experience hath 
shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, 
than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accus- 
tomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably 
the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it 
is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide 
new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance 
of these Colonies ; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter 

559 



56o APPENDIX A 

their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of 
Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in 
direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. 
To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. — He has refused his 
Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. — He 
has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing impor- 
tance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained ; 
and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. — He has 
refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, 
unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legis- 
lature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. ^ He has 
called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant 
from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing 
them into compliance with his measures. — He has dissolved Representative 
Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the 
rights of the people. — He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, 
to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of 
Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise ; the State 
remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from with- 
out, and convulsions within. — He has endeavoured to prevent the population 
of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of 
Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and 
raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. — He has obstructed 
the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing 
Judiciary powers. — He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the 
tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. — He has 
erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to har- 
rass our people, and eat out their substance. — He has kept among us, in times 
of peace. Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. — He has 
affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil 
power. — He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign 
to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to 
their Acts of pretended Legislation : — For quartering large bodies of armed 
troops among us : — For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for 
any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States : — 
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world : — For imposing Taxes 
on us without our Consent : — For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits 
of Trial by Jury : — For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended 
offences: — For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring 
Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its 
Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for intro- 
ducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies : — For taking away our 
Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the 
Forms of our Governments : — For suspending our own Legislatures, and declar- 



APPENDIX A 561 

ing themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. — 
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and 
waging War against us. — He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, 
burnt our towns, and destroyed the Lives of our people. — He is at this time 
transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of 
death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty 
& perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy 
the Head of a civilized nation. — He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken 
Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the 
executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their 
Hands. — He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has en- 
deavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian 
Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of 
all ages, sexes and conditions. In every stage of these Oppressions We have 
Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms : Our repeated Petitions 
have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is 
thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler 
of a free people. Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish 
brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their 
legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have re- 
minded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. 
We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have con- 
jured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, 
which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They 
too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, there- 
fore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, 
as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends. — 

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General 
Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the 
rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good 
People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare. That these United 
Colonies are, and of Right ought to he, free and Independent States; that they are 
Absolved from all x\llegiance to the British Crown, and that all political con- 
nection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally 
dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to 
levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do 
all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And 
for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of 
divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes 
and our sacred Honor. 

The foregoing Declaration was, by order of Congress, engrossed and signed 
by the following members : 



562 



APPENDIX A 



NEW HAMPSraRE 

JOSIAH Bartlett 
William Whipple 
Matthew Thornton 



John Hancock 

NEW JERSEY 

Richard Stockton 
John Witherspoon 
Francis Hopkinson 
John Hart 



MASSACHUSETTS BAY Abraham Clark 



Samuel Adams 
John Adams 
Robert Treat Paine 
Elbridge Gerry 

RHODE ISLAND 

Stephen Hopkins 

WiLLLAM ElLERY 

CONNECTICUT 

Roger Sherman 
Samuel Huntington 
William Williams 
Oliver Wolcott 



NEW YORK 

William Floyd 
Philip Livingston 
Francis Lewis 
Lewis Morris 



PENNSYLVANIA 

Robert Morkis 
Benjamin Rush 
Benjamin Franklin 
John Morton 
George Clymer 
James Smith 
George Taylor 
James Wilson 
George Ross 



DELAWARE 

C^SAR Rodney 
George Read 
Thomas M'Kean 



MARYLAND 



Samuel Chase 
William Paca 



Thomas Stone 

Charles Carroll, of CarroUton 



VIRGINIA 

George Wythe 
Richard Henry Lee 
Thomas Jefferson 
Benjamin Harrison 
Thomas Nelson, Jr. 
Francis Lightfoot Lee 
Carter Braxton 

NORTH CAROLINA 

William Hooper 
Joseph Hewes 
John Penn 

SOUTH CAROLINA 

Edward Rutledge 
Thomas Heyward, Jr. 
Thomas Lynch, Jr. 
Arthur Middleton 

GEORGIA 

Button Gwinnett 
Lyman Hall 
George Walton 



Resolved, That copies of the Declaration be sent to the several assemblies, 
conventions, and committees, or councils of safety, and to the several com- 
manding officers of the continental troops ; that it be proclaimed in each of the 
United States, at the head of the army. 



APPENDIX B 

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF 
AMERICA 1 

(Submitted Sept. 17, 1787; in force April 30, 1789) 

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, 
establish Justice, insure domestic TranquiHty, provide for the common 
defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty 
to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution 
for the United States of America. 

ARTICLE I 

Section i. All legisla;tive Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Con- 
gress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Rep- 
resentatives. 

Section 2. [§ i] The House of Representatives shall be composed of Mem- 
bers chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the 
Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of 
the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature. 

[§ 2] No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the 
Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, 
and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he 
shall be chosen. 

[§ 3] Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the 
several States which may be included within this Union, according to their 
respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole 
Number of free Persons,] - including those bound to Service for a Term of 
Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, [three fifths of all other Persons].^ 
The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first 
Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent 
Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number 
of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each 

1 There is no title in the original manuscript. 

2 Modified by Fourteenth Amendment. 

• Superseded by Fourteenth Ameadmeiit. 

563 



564 APPENDIX B 

State shall have at Least one Representative ; [and until such enumeration 
shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, 
Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecti- 
cut five. New- York six, New Jersey four, Pcnnsjdvania eight, Delaware one, 
Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and 
Georgia three.] ^ 

[§ 4] When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the 
Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies. 

[§ s] The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other 
OfBcers ; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment. 

Section 3. [[§ i] The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two 
Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; 
and each Senator shall have one Vote.] ^ 

[§ 2] Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first 
Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The 
Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of 
the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, 
and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third 
may be chosen every second Year [and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, 
or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any Slate, the E.xccutive 
thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the 
Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.] ^ 

[§ 3] No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age 
of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who 
shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be 
chosen. 

[§ 4] The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the 
Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally di\ided. 

[§ 5] The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro 
tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the 
Office of President of the United States. 

[§ 6] The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When 
sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the 
President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside : And 
no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the 
Members present. 

[§ 7] Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to 
removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor. 
Trust or Profit under the United States : but the Party convicted shall never- 
theless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, 
according to Law. 

Section 4. [§ i] The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for 
Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Lcgis- 

i Temporary clause. • Superseded by Seventeenth Amendment. 



APPENDIX B 565 

lature thereof ; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such 
Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators. 

[§ 2] The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such 
Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law 
appoint a different Day. 

Section 5. [§ i] Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns 
and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall consti- 
tute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day 
to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent Members, 
in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide. 

[§ 2] Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its 
Members lOr Disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, 
expel a Member. 

[§ 3] Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to 
time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require 
Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any 
question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the 
Journal. 

[§ 4] Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the 
Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place 
than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting. 

Section 6. [§ i] The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Com- 
pensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the 
Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony 
and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance 
at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from 
the same ; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be 
questioned in any other Place. 

[§ 2] No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he 
was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United 
States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have 
been encreased during such time ; and no Person holding any Office under the 
United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in 
Office. 

Section 7. [§ i] All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House 
of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments 
as on other Bills. 

[§ 2] Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and 
the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the 
United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with 
his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter 
the Objections at-large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If 
after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the 
Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by 



566 APPENDIX B 

which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that 
House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses 
shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting 
for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respec- 
tively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days 
(Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall 
be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their 
Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law. 

[§ 3] Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the 
Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question 
of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States ; and 
before the same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disap- 
proved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of 
Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case 
of a Bill. 

Section 8. The Congress shall have Powers [§ i] To lay and collect Taxes, 
Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common 
Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts 
and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; 

[§ 2] To borrow Money on the credit of the United States; 

[§ 3] To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several 
States, and with the Indian Tribes ; 

[§ 4] To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws 
on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; 

[§ 5] To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and 
fix the Standard of Weights and Measures ; 

[§ 6] To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and 
current Coin of the United States; 

[§ 7] To establish Post Offices and post Roads ; 

[§ 8] To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for 
limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective 
Writings and Discoveries; 

[§ 9] To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court ; 

[§ 10] To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high 
Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations ; 

[§ 11] To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make 
Rules concerning Captures on Land and W' ater ; 

[§ 12] To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to 
that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; 

(§ 13] To provide and maintain a Navy; 

[§ 14] To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and 
naval Forces; 

[§ 15] To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the 
Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; 



APPENDIX B 567 

[§ 16] To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, 
and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of 
the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of 
the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the 
discipline prescribe by Congress ; 

[§ 17] To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such 
District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular 
States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government 
of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased 
by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for 
the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock- Yards, and other needful 
Buildings; — And 

[§ 18] To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying 
into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this 
Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department 
or Officer thereof. 

Section 9. [§ i] [The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of 
the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited 
by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but 
a Tax or 'duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars 
for each Person.] ^ 

[§ 2] The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, 
unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safet}' may require it. 

[§ 3] No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.^ 

[§ 4] No Capitation, or other direct. Tax shall be laid, unless in Propor- 
tion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken. 

[§ 5] No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State. 

[§ 6] No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or 
Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels 
bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in 
another. 

[§ 7] No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of 
Appropriations made by Law ; and a regular Statement and Account of the 
Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time 
to time. 

[§ 8] No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States : And no 
Person holding any Ofl&ce of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the 
Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of 
any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.' 

Section 10. [§ i] No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Con- 
federation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills 
of Credit ; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of 

' Temporary provision. ' Extended by the first eight amendments. 

' Extended by Ninth and Tenth Amendments. 



568 APPENDIX B 

Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the 
Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility. 

[§ 2] No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts 
or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary 
for executing its inspection Laws : and the net Produce of all Duties and 
Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the 
Treasury of- the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the 
Revision and Controul of the Congress. 

[§ 3] No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of 
Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any 
Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or 
engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will 
not admit of delay .^ 

ARTICLE II 

Section i. [§ i] The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the 
United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four 
Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be 
elected, as follows 

[§ 2] Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof 
may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators 
and Representatives to which the State maj' be entitled in the Congress : but 
no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit 
under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector. 

[The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for 
two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same 
State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted 
for and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and 
certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United 
States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate 
shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all 
the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person ha\ing the 
greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Major- 
ity of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than 
one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the 
House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballots one of them for 
President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on 
the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in 
chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation 
from each State having one Vote ; A quorum for this Purpose shall consist of 
a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all 
the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of 

' Extended by Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. 



APPENDIX B 569 

the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors 
shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have 
equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.] 1 

[§ 3] The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and 
the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same 
throughout the United States. 

[§ 4] No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United 
States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to 
the Office of President ; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who 
shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen 
Years a Resident within the United States. 

[§ s] In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, 
Resignation, or InabiUty to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, 
the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law 
provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation, or Inability, both of 
the President and Vice President declaring what Officer shall then act as 
President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be re- 
moved, or a President shall be elected. 

[§ 6] The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Com- 
pensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period 
for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period 
any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them. 

[§ 7] Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the 
following Oath or Affirmation : — • 

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of 
"President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, 
"protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." 

Section 2. [§ i] The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army 
and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when 
called into the actual Service of the United States ; he may require the Opin- 
ion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, 
upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he 
shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the 
United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. 

[§ 2] He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the 
Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur ; 
and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, 
shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the 
supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appoint- 
ments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established 
by Law : but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior 
Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, 
or in the Heads of Departments. 

» Superseded by Twelfth Amendment. 



570 APPENDIX B 

[§3] The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may 
happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall 
expire at the End of their next Session. 

Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information 
of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Meas- 
ures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary 
Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagree- 
ment between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may 
adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive Ambas- 
sadors and other public Ministers ; he shall take Care that the Laws be faith- 
fully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States. 

Section 4. The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the 
United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Con- 
viction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III 

Section i. The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one 
supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time 
to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior 
Courts, shall hold their Offices during good behaviour, and shall, at stated 
Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished 
during their Continuance in Office. 

Section 2. [§ i] The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law 
and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, 
and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority; — to all 
Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls; — to all 
Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction ; — to Controversies to which 
the United States shall be a Party ; — to Controversies between two or more 
States ; — between a State and Citizens of another State ; ^ — between Citizens 
of different States, — between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under 
Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and 
foreign States, Citizens or Subjects. 

[§ 2] In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public' Ministers and Con- 
suls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have 
original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme 
Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such 
Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make. 

[§ 3] The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by 
Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall 
have been committed ; but when not committed within any State, the Trial 
shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed. 

Section 3. [§ 1] Treason against the United States, shall consist only in 

> Limited by Eleveoth .\meQdment. 



APPENDIX B 571 

levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid 
and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testi- 
mony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. 
[§ 2] The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, 
but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture 
except during the Life of the Person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV 

Section i. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the 
public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the 
Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, 
Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 

Section 2. [§ i] The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privi- 
leges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.^ 

[§ 2] A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, 
who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand 
of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, 
to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime. 

[§ 3] [No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws 
thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regula- 
tion therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered 
up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.] ^ 

Section 3. [§ i] New States may be admitted by the Congress into this 
Union ; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of 
any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more 
States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States 
concerned as well as of the Congress. 

[§ 2] The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful 
Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to 
the United States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to 
Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State. 

Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union 
a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against 
Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when 
the Legislature cannot to convened) against domestic Violence. 

ARTICLE V 

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, 
shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the 
Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for 
proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and 

1 Extended by Fourteenth Amendment. 

* Superseded by Thirteenth Amendment so far as it relates to slaves. 



572 



APPENDIX B 



Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of 
three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, 
as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; 
Provided [that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One 
thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and 
fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article ; and] ^ that no State, 
without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate. 



ARTICLE VI 

[§ i] All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the 
Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under 
this Constitution, as under the Confederation.'' 

[§ 2] This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall 
be made in Pursuance thereof ; and all Treaties made, or which shall be 
made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme 
Law of the Land ; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, 
any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwith- 
standing. 

[§ 3] The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members 
of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both 
of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or 
Affirmation, to support this Constitution ; but no religious Test shall ever be 
required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United 
States. 

ARTICLE VII 

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the 
Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same. 

Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the 
States present the Seventeenth Day of September and 
the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and 
Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United 
States of America the Twelfth In Witness whereof We 
have hereunto subscribed our names. 

Go WASHINGTON — 
Presidt and deputy from Virginia. 



[Note of the draughtsman as 
to interlineations in the text of 
the manuscript.] 
Attest 

WrLxiAu Jackson. 

Secretary. 



NEW HAMPSHIRE 

John Lancdon 
Nicholas Giluan 

MASSACHUSETTS 

Nathaniel Gorham 
RuTDS King 



' Temporary provision. 



PENNSYLVANIA 

B Franklin 
Thomas Mifflin 
Root. Morris 
Geo. Cylmee 
Tho. Fitz Simons 
Jared Ingersoll 
James Wilson 
Gouv Morris 



VIRGINIA 

John Blair 

James Madison, Jr. 

NORTH CAROLINA 

Wm. Blount 

RiCHD. DoBBS Spaight 

Hu Williamson 



* Extended by Fourteenth .Amendment, Section 4. 



APPENDIX B 



573 



CONNECTICUT 

Wm. Saml. Johnson 
Roger Sherman 

NEW YORK 

Alexander Hamilton 

NEW JERSEY 

Wn,: Livingston 
David Brearley 
Wm. : Paterson 
Jona: Dayton 



DELAWARE SOUTH CAROLINA 

J. RUTLEDGE 

JuN. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney 

Charles Pinckney 
Pierce Butler 



Geo: Read 
Gunning Bedford, 
John Dickinson 
Richard Bassett 
Jaco : Broom 

MARYLAND 



GEORGIA 



James McHenry William Few 

Dan of St. Thos. Jenifer Abr Baldwin 
Danl Carroll, 

Attest 



William Jackson, Secretary 



[AMENDMENTS] 

ARTICLES in addition to and Amendment of the Constitution of the 
United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the legis- 
latures of the several States, pursuant to the fifth Article of the original 
Constitution.! 

[ARTICLE I] 2 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or pro- 
hibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of 
the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition 
the Government for a redress of grievances. 

[ARTICLE II] 

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the 
right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. 

[ARTICLE III] 

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the 
consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed 
by law. 

[ARTICLE IV] 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and 
effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and 
no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or 
affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the 
persons or things to be seized. 



1 This heading appears only in the joint resolution submitting the first ten amendments. 
* In the original manuscripts the first twelve amendments have no numbers. 



574 APPENDIX B 

[ARTICLE V] 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, 
unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising 
in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time 
of War or public danger ; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence 
to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be compelled in any crim- 
inal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or 
property, without due process of law ; nor shall private property be taken for 
public use, without just compensation. 

[ARTICLE VI] 

In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy 
and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the 
crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously 
ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusa- 
tion ; to be confronted with the witnesses against him ; to have compulsory 
process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of 
Counsel for his defence. 

[ARTICLE VII] 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty 
dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a 
jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than 
according to the rules of the common law. 

[ARTICLE VIII] 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel 
and unusual punishments inflicted. 

[ARTICLE IX] 

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be 
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

[ARTICLE X] 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor 
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively or to the 
people.' 

> Amendments First to Tenth proclaimed to be in force, Dec. 15, 1791. 



APPENDIX B 575 

[ARTICLE XI] 1 

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to 
any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United 
States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign 
State. 



[ARTICLE Xn]« 

The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for 
President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhab- 
itant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the 
person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as 
Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as 
President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number 
of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed 
to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President 
of the Senate ; — The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the 
Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes 
shall then be counted ; — The person having the greatest number of votes for 
President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole 
number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then 
from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list 
of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose 
immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the 
votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one 
vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from 
two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to 
a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President 
whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day 
of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in 
the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. — The 
person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the 
Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors 
appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest num- 
bers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President ; a quorum for the 
purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a 
majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person 
constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that o£ 
Vice-President of the United States. 

1 Proclaimed to be in force Jan. 8, 1798. 
* Proclaimed to be in force Sept. 25, 1804. 



576 APPENDIX B 

ARTICLE XIII 1 

Section i. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punish- 
ment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist 
within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Sec- 
tion 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate 
legislation. 

ARTICLE XIV 2 

Section i. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject 
to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State 
wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall 
abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States ; nor shall 
any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process 
of law ; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection 
of the laws. 

Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States 
according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons 
in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at 
any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the 
United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers 
of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the 
male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens 
of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in 
rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced 
in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the 
whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 

Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, 
or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any oflice, civil or military, 
under the United States, or under any State, who, having previous!}' taken an 
oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a 
member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any 
State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in 
insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies 
thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove 
such disability. 

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized 
by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for 
services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But 
neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obli- 
gation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, 

' Proclaimed to be in force Dec. 18, 1865. Bears the unnecessary approval of the President. 
' Proclaimed to be in force July 28, 1868. 



APPENDIX B 577 

or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave ; but all such debts, 
obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void. 

Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legis- 
lation, the provisions of this article. 

ARTICLE XVI 

Section i. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be 
denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, 
color, or previous condition of servitude. 

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro- 
priate legislation. 

ARTICLE XVI 2 

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from what- 
ever source derived, without apportionment, among the several States, and 
without regard to any census or enumeration. 

ARTICLE XVII 2 

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each 
State, elected by the people thereof, for six years ; and each Senator shall have 
one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for 
electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislatures. 

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, 
the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such 
vacancies : Provided, That the Legislature of any State may empower the 
executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the 
vacancies by election as the Legislature may direct. 

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term 
of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution. 

1 Proclaimed to be in force March 30, 1870. ' Ratified, 1913. 



APPENDIX C 

States of the Union 











Repre- 






Admission 


Previous Status 


sentatives 
1910' 


22 


Alabama 


Dec. 14, 1819 


Territory 


10 


48 


Arizona 


Feb. 14, 1912 


Territory 


I 


25 


Arkansas 


June 15, 1836 


Part of Arkansas Territory 


7 


31 


California 


Sept. 9, 1850 


Unorganized territory 


II 


38 


Colorado 


Aug. I, 1876 


Territory 


4 


S 


Connecticut 


Jan. 9, 17882 


Original state 


5 


I 


Delaware 


Dec. 7, 1787 2 


Original state 


I 


27 


Florida 


March 3, 1845 


Territory 


4 


4 


Georgia 


Jan. 2, 17882 


Original state 


12 


43 


Idaho 


July 3, 1890 


Territory 


2 


21 


Illinois 


Dec. 3, 1818 


Part of Illinois Territory 


27 


19 


Indiana 


Dec. II, 1816 


Indiana Territory and part 
of Michigan Territory 


13 


29 


Iowa 


Dec. 28, 1846 


Part of Iowa Territory 


II 


34 


Kansas 


Jan. 29, 1861 


Part of Kansas Territory 


8 


IS 


Kentucky 


June I, 1792 


Part of Virginia 


II 


18 


Louisiana 


April 30, 181 2 


Territory of Orleans 


8 


23 


Maine 


March 15, 1820 


Part of Massachusetts 


4 


7 


Maryland 


April 28, 17882 


Original state 


6 


6 


Massachusetts 


Feb. 6, 17882 


Original state 


16 


26 


Michigan 


Jan. 26, 1837 


Part of Michigan Territory 


13 


32 


Minnesota 


May II, 1858 


Part of Minnesota Territory 


10 


20 


Mississippi 


Dec. 10, 1817 


Territory 


8 


24 


Missouri 


Aug. 10, 1 82 1 


Part of Missouri Territory 


16 


41 


Montana 


Nov. 8, 1889 


Territory 


2 


37 


Nebraska 


March i, 1867 


Part of Nebraska Territory 


6 


36 


Nevada 


Oct. 31, 1864 


Territory 


I 


9 


New Hampshire 


June 21, 17882 


Original state 


2 


3 


New Jersey 


Dec. 18, 1787 2 


Original state 


12 


47 


New Mexico 


Jan. 6, 1912 


Territory 


I. 


II 


New York 


July 26, 17882 


Original state 


43 


12 


North Carolina 


Nov. 21, 1789* 


Original state 


10 


39 


North Dakota 


Nov. 2, 1889 


Part of Dakota Territory 


3 



' A reapportionment of representatives among the states in proportion to population, follows 
each census. 

' Date of ratification of the Constitution. 

578 



APPENDIX C 



579 











Rf.pre- 






Admission 


Previous Status 


SENTATIVES 
I910 


17 


Ohio 


Feb. 19, 1803 1 


Part of Northwest Territory 


22 


46 


Oklahoma 


Nov. 16, 1907 


Oklahoma Territory and In- 
dian Territory 


8 


33 


Oregon 


Feb. 14, 1859 


Part of Oregon Territory 


3 


2 


Pennsylvania 


Dec. 12, 1787 2 


Original state 


36 


13 


Rhode Island 


May 29, 17902 


Original state 


3 


8 


South Carolina 


May 23, 17882 


Original state 


7 


40 


South Dakota 


Nov. 2, 1889 


Part of Dakota Territory 


3 


16 


Tennessee 


June I, 1796 


Territory South of the Ohio 


10 


28 


Texas 


Dec. 29, 1845 


Independent state 


18 


45 


Utah 


Jan. 4, 1S96 


Territory 


2 


14 


Vermont 


March 4, 1791 


Semi-independent state 


2 


10 


Virginia 


June 26, 17882 


Original state 


10 


42 


Washington 


Nov. II, 1889 


Territory 


S 


35 


West Virginia 


June 19, 1863 


Part of Virginia 


6 


30 


Wisconsin 


May 29, 1848 


Part of Wisconsin Territory 


II 


44 


Wyoming 


July 10, 1890 


Territory 


I 



' Congress passed an enabling act for the admission of Ohio, April 30, 1802. Formerly, it was 
held that the admission of Ohio was completed November 29, 1802. The date given in the table 
is the one now accepted by the United States Census authorities. 

2 Date of ratification of the Constitution. 



APPENDIX D 

Presidents of the United States 



No. 


PRESroENT 


PoLrrics 


Inaugurated 


Years Served 


I 


Washington 


Federalist 


1789 


7 y. 10 mo. 4 d. 


2 


J. Adams 


Federalist 


1797 


4 


3 


Jefferson 


Republican * 


1801 


8 


4 


Madison 


Republican 


1809 


8 


5 


Monroe 


Republican 


1817 


8 


6 


J. Q. Adams 


Republican 


1825 


4 


7 


Jackson 


Democrat 


1829 


8 


8 


Van Buren 


Democrat 


1837 


4 


9 


Harrison 


Whig 


1841 


I mo. 


lO 


Tyler 


Democrat 


1841 


3 y. II rao. 


II 


Polk 


Democrat 


1845 


4 


12 


Taylor 


Whig 


1849 


I y. 4 mo. 5 d. 


13 


Fillmore 


Whig 


1850 


2 y. 7 mo. 26 d. 


14 


Pierce 


Democrat 


1853 


4 


15 


Buchanan 


Democrat 


1857 


4 


16 


Lincoln 


Republican 


1861 


4 y. I mo. II d. 


17 


Johnson 


Republican 


1865 


3 y. 10 mo. 19 d. 


18 


Grant 


Republican 


1869 


8 


19 


Hayes 


Republican 


1877 


4 


20 


Garfield 


Republican 


1881 


6j mo. 


21 


Arthur 


Republican 


1881 


3 y. si mo. 


22 


Cleveland 


Democrat 


1885 


4 


23 


B. Harrison 


Republican 


1889 


4 


24 


Cleveland 


Democrat 


1893 


4 


25 


McKinley 


Republican 


1897 


4 y. 6 mo. 10 d. 


26 


Roosevelt 


Republican 


1901 


7 y. 5 mo. 18 d. 


27 


Taft 


Republican 


1909 


4 


28 


Wilson 


Democrat 


1913 





' It must be remembered that the four Presidents calling themselves "Republicans," in the 
early nineteenth century, were members of the party now known by the name "l)emocratic." 



580 



APPENDIX E 

Congressional Representation of the Sections 17 go- 1860 





Senate 


House 


Year 








Free States 


Slave States 


Free States' 


Slave States 


1790 


14 


12 


35 


30 


1792 


16 


14 


57 


48 


1796 


16 


16 


57 


49 


1800 


16 


16 


57 


49 


1804 


18 


16 


77 


65 


1808 


18 


16 


77 


65 


1812 


18 


18 


103 


79 


1816 


20 


18 


104 


79 


1820 


24 


24 


105 


82 


1824 


24 


24 


123 


90 


1828 


24 


24 


123 


90 


1832 


24 


24 


141 


99 


1836 


26 


26 


142 


100 


1840 


26 


26 


142 


100 


1844 


26 


26 


135 


98 


1848 


30 


30 


139 


91 


1852 


32 


30 


144 


90 


1856 


32 


30 


144 


90 


i860 


36 


30 


147 


90 



Note : To find the Electoral Votes, add together the number of Senators and Representatives. 



S8i 



APPENDIX F 
GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The thirty-one special bibliographies contained in this volume form together 
an adequate working list of books on American history. In almost every case 
the full title of a work, the place and date of publication, may be found in the 
indispensable ** Guide to the Study and Reading of American History by Channing, 
Hart, and Turner (191 2. $2.50. Ginn). However, this extended list includes 
books not absolutely necessary to the young student, while some of the works 
mentioned are not to be found except in the large historical collections. The 
following briefer list is suggested as the basis of a school library. Of almost all 
the books named below, short but authoritative criticisms will be found in a 
recent work, of great value to teachers, the ** Bibliography of History for Schools 
and Libraries, by Andrews, Gambrill, and Tall (191 1. $0.60. Longmans). 
The titles marked with two stars are recommended as a minimum reference 
group. To these it is desirable to add as rapidly as possible the volumes marked 
with a single star. 

Acts of the Privy Council of England {Relative to America). Edited by W. L. 
Grant and J. Monroe. 5 vols. 1908. 

*Adams, H., History of the United States, 1801-1817. 9 vols. 1889-1891. 
$18.00. Scribner. 

*k\cxz.TLd&T,¥.. v., Military Memoirs of a Confederate. 1907. $3.00. Scribner. 

*Andrews, C. M., Colonial Self -Government. (American Nation Series.) 

American Commonwealth Series. $i.25pervol. Houghton. Titles and authors 
as follows : 

Ca/i/onna, by JosiahRoyce. 1886; Co««ec//c7</,by Alexander Johnston. 1903 
Indiana, by J. P. Dunn, Jr. 1888; Kansas, by L. W. Spring. 1885 
Kentucky, by N. S. Shaler. 1885 ; Louisiana, by A. Phelps. 1907 
Maryland, by W. H. Browne. 1904; Michigan, by T. M. Cooley. 1889 
M innesota, by W.W. FoUvell. 1908; Mm<?»r/, by L. Carr ; New Hamp- 
shire, by F. B. Sanborn. 1907 ; New York, by E. H. Roberts. 2 vols. 
1904; O//10, by R. King. 1903; 2?/jo<fe /5/aHi/, by I. B. Richman. 1906; 
Texas, by G. P. Garrison. 1903; Vermont, by R. E. Robinson. 1892; 
Wisconsin, by R. G. Thwaites. 1909. In preparation : Georgia, by U. B. 
Phillips ; Illinois, by J. H. Finley ; Iowa, by A. Shaw ; Massachusetts, by 
E. Channing; New Jersey, by A. Scott; Oregon, by F. H. Hodder; 
Pennsylvania, by T. Williams. 

582 



APPENDIX F 583 

American Crisis Biographies. Recent lives of great Americans. Oberholtzer, 

E. P., editor. $1.25 per vol. Jacobs. 
The American Nation. Edited by Albert Bushnell Hart. 27 vols. 1904- 

1907. $2.00 net per vol.; if bought by groups, $1.80 net. Harper. 
(Several volumes mentioned separately in this list.) 

American Statesmen. Morse, J. T., Jr., editor. As a rule, $1.25 per vol. 
Houghton. List of titles and authors as follows : 

Benjamin Franklin, by John T. Morse, Jr. 1898; Samuel Adams, by James K. 
Hosmer. 1898; Patrick Henry, by Moses Coit Tyler. 1898; *George 
Washington, by Henry Cabot Lodge. 2 vols. 1898 ; John Adams, by John 
T. Morse, Jr. 1898 ; * Alexander Hamilton, by Henry Cabot Lodge. 1898 ; 
Gouverneur Morris, by Theodore Roosevelt. 1898; John Jay, by George 
Pellew. 1890; John Marshall, by Allan B. Magruder. 1885; Thomas 
7e^er50«, by John T. Morse, Jr. 1898; James Madison, by Sydneyllowa.Td 
Gay. 18S4; Albert Gallatin, by John Austin Stevens. 1898; James 
Monroe, by Daniel C. Gilman. 1898; John Quincy Adams, by John T. 
Morse, Jr. 1898; John Randolph, by Henry Adams. 1898; Andrew 
Jackson, by William G. Sumner. 1899; Martin Van Biiren, by Edward 
M. Shepard. 1899; *Henry Clay, by Carl Schurz. 2 vols. 1899; 
*Daniel Webster, by Henry Cabot Lodge. 1899; John C. Calhoun, by 
Herman von Hoist. 1882 ; Thomas H. Benton, by Theodore Roosevelt. 
18S6; Zeww Ca55, by Andrew C. McLaughlin. 1899; * Abraham Lincoln, 
by John T. Morse, Jr. 2 vols. 1899; William H. Seward, by Thornton 
K. Lothrop. 1899; Salmon P. Chase, by Albert Bushnell Hart. 1899; 
*Charles Francis Adams, by C. F. Adams, Jr. 1900; Charles Sumner, by 
Moorfield Story. 1900; Thaddeus Stevens, by Samuel W. McCall. 1899. 

Ames, H. V., State Documents on Federal Relations: the States and the United 
States. 1906. $1.75. Longmans. 

Ashe, S. A., History of North Carolina from Colonial Times to the Present. 2 vols. 

1908. C. L. Van Noppen, Greensboro, N. C. 

Avery, E. McK., History of the United States. 1904-1910. 6 vols, ready; to 

be completed in 16 vols. $2.65 each. Burrows Bros., Cleveland. 
Babcock, K. C, Rise of American Nationality. (American Nation Series.) 
*'&a,edeker, Is.., The United States. 1909. $3.75. Scribner. 
Bancroft, G., History of the United States. 6 vols. 1883-1885. $15.00 net. 

Appleton. 
Bancroft, H. H., History of the Pacific States of North America. 39 vols. $4.50 

each. 1 88 2-1 890. Bancroft-Whitney Co., San Francisco. 
Bassett, J. S., The Federalist System. (American Nation Series.) 

Life of Andrew Jackson. 2 vols. 191 1. $5.00. 

Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. 4 vols. 1887-1888. $15.00. Century. 
Beazley, C. R., Dawn of Modern Geography. 3 vols. 1897-1907. $16.50. 

Clarendon Press. 
*Beer, G. L., British Colonial Policy. 1907. $2.00 Macmillan. 



584 APPENDIX F 

*Bogart, E. L., Economic History of the United Stales. 1907. $1.75. I^ng- 

mans. 
♦Bradford, G., Lee the American. 191 2. $2.50. Houghton. 
Brigham, A. P., Geographic Influences in American History. 1903. $1.25. 

Ginn. 
Bruce, H., James Edward Oglethorpe. (Makers of America.) 
Bruct, v. k., Economic History of Virginia. 1907. $5.00. 
** Bryce, J., The American Commonwealth. 2 vols. 1893-1895. 4th ed. 

rev. 1910. $4.00. Abridged ed. 1896. $1.75. Macmillan. 
♦Burgess, J. W., The Middle Period. 1897. $1.00. Scribner. 

The Civil War and the Constitution. 1901. $2.00. Scribner. 

Reconstruction and the Constitution. 1902. $1.00. Scribner. 

Butler, P., Judah P. Benjamin. (American Crisis Biographies.) 
Caldwell, H. W., American Territorial Development. 1900. Ainsworth. 
Callahan, J. M., Diplomatic History of the Southern Confederacy. 1901. Johns 

Hopkins. 
♦Callender, G. S., Selections from the Economic History of the United States, 1765- 

i860. With introductory essays. 1909. $2.25. Ginn. 
Cambridge Modern History. Edited by A. W. Ward, et al. Vol. VII : The 

United States. 1902. $4.00 net. Macmillan. 
Campaigns of the Civil War. 13 vols. 1881-1890. $1.00 per vol. Scribner. 
Channing, E., History of the United States. 8 vols. 1905-1908. $2.50 per 
vol. Macmillan. 

The Jefcrsonian System. (American Nation Series.) 

Cheyney, E. P., European Backgrounds of A merican History. (American Nation 

Series.) 
Coman, K., The Industrial History of the United States. New ed. 1910. $1.25 
net. Macmillan. 

* Economic Beginnings of the Far West. 191 2. $4.00. Macmillan. 

Davis, J., Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. 1881. 
Da.y, C, A History of Commerce. 1907. $2.00. Longmans. 
♦Dewey, D. R., Financial History of the United States. New ed. rev. 1907. 
$2.00. Longmans. 

National Problems. (American Nation Series.) 

♦Dickerson, O. M., American Colonial Government. 191 2. $4.00. Arthur H. 

Clarke Co. 
♦Dodd, W. E., Jejferson Davis. (American Crisis Biographies.) 
Doyle, J. A., English Colonies in America. 5 vols. 1882-1907. $3.50 per 

vol. Holt. 
Du Bose, J. W., Yancey, William L. 1892. Roberts, Birmingham, Ala. 
Eggleston, E., History of Life in the United States. Vol. I : Beginners of 
a Nation. Vol. II: Transit of Civilization. 1896-1902. $1.50 each. 
Appleton. 
Elliott, S. B., Sam Houston. 1900. $0.75. Small, Maynard. 



APPENDIX F 585 

Epochs of American History. A. B. Hart, editor. $1.25 per vol. Longmans. 

Faust, A. B., The German Element in the United States. 2 vols. 1909. 
Houghton. 

Federalist, The. Ford, P. L., editor. 1898. $1.75. Holt. 

*Vi'&k.e.,]., Historical Works. 1889-1900. Houghton. The following are espe- 
cially useful in schools : The Discovery of America ($4.00) ; The Beginnings 
of New England ($2.00) ; Old Virginia and Her Neighbors ($4.00) ; The 
Dutch and Quaker Colonies ($4.00) ; The American Revolution ($4.00) ; 
Critical Period of American History, i^Sj-i^Sg ($2.00). 

Fite, E. D., Social and Industrial Conditions in the North duritig the Civil War. 
1910. $2.00 net. Macmillan. 

*Fleming, W. L., Documentary History of Reconstruction. 

Andrew Johnson. (American Crisis Biographies.) 

Follett, M. P., The Speaker of the House of Representatives. 1896. $1.75. 
Longmans. 

*Foster, J. W., A Century of American Diplomacy, lyjd-iSyd. 1900. $3.50. 
Houghton. 

Franklin, B., Autobiography. 25 cents to 40 cents, on list of principal text- 
book publishers. 

Garrison, G. P., Westward Extension. (American Nation Series.) 

Goodnow, F. J., Municipal Government. 1909. $3.00 net. Century. 

Gordy, J. P., A History of Political Parties in the United States. 2 vols. 1900. 
$1.75 net per vol. Holt. 

Government Publications. Out of the infinite number of volumes issued by 
the Government Printing Office, a few, at least, should be secured for every 
historical collection. For example : the latest edition of Treaties and 
Conventions; of Tariff Acts; the **Com/»e;w/M«» of the Latest Census ; Index 
of the Federal Statutes, by Scott and Beaman ; and, year by year, the *Sta- 
tistical Abstract. For information as to government publications, write to 
the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. 

*Grant, U. S., Personal Memoirs. 1886. 

Greene, E. B., Provincial America. (American Nation Series.) 

*Harding, S. B., Select Orations Illustrating American Political History. 1909. 
$1.25. Macmillan. 

Hart, A. B., Actual Government as Applied under American Conditions. 1903. 
Rev. ed. 1908. $2.25. Longmans. (American Citizen Series.) 

* American History Told by Contemporaries. 4 vols. 1897-1901. $2.00 

net per vol. Macmillan. 

** Formation of the Union. (Epochs of American History.) 1897. 

Slavery and Abolition. (American Nation Series.) 

*Henderson, G. F. R., Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War. 1898. 

Hill, M., Liberty Documents, iioo-iSgg. 1901. $2.00. Longmans. 

Hinsdale, B. A., History of the Old Northwest. 1888. Rev. ed. 1899. $1.75 
Silver. 



586 APPENDIX F 

* History Syllabus for Secondary Schools. (By New England Teachers' Associa- 
tion.) 1904. $1.20 net. Heath, 
von Hoist, H. E., Constitutional and Political History of the United States. 8 vols. 

1899. $12.00. Callaghan. 
*Hunt, G., John C. Calhoun. (American Crisis Biographies.) 
Jervy, T. D., Ilayne, Robert Y., and His Times. 1909. $3.00. Macmillan. 
Johnson, A., Stephen A. Douglas. 1908. $2.50. Macmillan. 

* Readings in American Constitutional History. 1913. $2.50. Houghton. 

King, G., Jean Baptiste le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville. (Makers of America.) 

1892. 
'Ldirntd,li.'ii., The President's Cabinet. 191 2. $2.70 Yale Press. 
*Latane, J. H., America as a World Power. (American Nation Series.) 
*Lecky, W. E. H., The American Revolution, 1763-1783. $1.25. Appleton. 
Lewis and Clark, History of the E.xpedition under Command of. (Trail Makers 

Series.) McMaster, J. B., editor. 1905. $1.00 Barnes. 
*MacDonald, W., Select Charters and Other Documents Illustrative of American 

History, 1606-177 5. 1889. $2.00 net. Macmillan. 
* Select Documents Illustrative of the History of the United States, 1776-1861. 

1898. $2.25 net. Macmillan. 
* Select Statutes and Other Documents Illustrative of the History of the 

United States, iS6i-i8g8. 1902. $2.00 net. Macmillan. 
** Documentary Source Book of American History. (Briefer series.) $1.75. 

Macmillan. 

Jacksonian Democracy. (American Nation Series.) 

Makers of America. Good short biographies. $1.00 per vol. Dodd. 
Markham, C. R., Columbus, Christopher. 1892. 4s. 6d. George Philip & 

Son, London. 
Meigs, W. M., The Growth of the Constitution. 1900. Lippincott. 
McCrady, E., History of South Carolina, 1670-17S3. 4 vols. 1897-1902. 

$3.50 net per vol. Macmillan. 
*McMaster, J. B., History of the People of the United States. 7 vols. 1883-191C. 

$2.50 net per vol. Appleton. 
McLaughlin, A. C, The Confederation and the Constitution. (American Nation 

Series.) 
Nicolay, J. G., and Hay, J., Lincoln, Abraham. 10 vols. 1890. $20.00. 

Century. 
Oberholtzer, E. P., The Referendum in America, Together with Some Chapters 

on the History of the Initiative and Other Phases of Popular Government in 

the United States. 1900. $2.00. Scribner. 
*Osgood, H. L., American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century. 3 vols. 1905- 

1907. $3.00 net per vol. Macmillan. 
*Original Narratives of Early American History. 1901. $3.00 per vol. 

Scribner. Especially : The Northmen, Columbus, and Cabot, edited by J. 

E. Olsen and E. G. Bourne; Spanish Explorers in the Southern United 



APPENDIX F 587 

Stales, edited by F. W. Hodge and T. H. Lewis ; Early English and French 
Voyages, chiefly from Hakluyt, 1534-1608, edited by Henry S. Burrage; 
The Voyages of Samuel de Champlain, edited by W. L. Grant; Narratives 
of Early Virginia, 1606-1625, edited by Lyon Gardiner Tyler; Brad- 
ford's History of Plymouth Plantation, 1606-1646, edited by William T. 
Davis. 

Parkman, F., Historical Works. 12 vols. 1864-1892. New library edition, 
1898. $2.00 per vol. Popular edition, $1.50. Little, Pioneers of 
France in the New World; The Jesuits in North America; La Salle and the 
Discovery of the Great West; The Old Regime in Canada; Count Frontenac 
and New France Under Louis XIV ; A Half -Century of Conflict. 2 vols.; 
Montcalm and Wolfe. 2 vols. ; The Conspiracy of Ponliac and the Indian 
War after the Conquest of Canada. 2 vols.; The Oregon Trail. (Not a 
part of the Canada series.) 

Pendleton, L., Alexander H. Stephens. (American Crisis Biographies.) 

Reinsch, P. S., Readings in American Federal Government. 1909. $2.75. Ginn. 

Rhodes, J. F., History of the United States, iSjo-iSj"^. 7 vols. 1893-1905. 
$2.50 net per vol. Macmillan. 

Roosevelt, T., Winning of the West, iy6g-i8oj. 4 vols. 1889-1896. $2.50. 
Putman. 

*Root, W. T., and Ames, H. V., Syllabus of American Colonial History. 191 2. 
$1.00. Longmans. 

Ropes, J. C, Story of the Civil War. 2 vols. 1894-1898. Vol. I, $2.50; 
Vol. II, $2.50. Putnam. 

Russell, W. T., Maryland, the Land of Sanctuary. 1907. $2.00. J. H. Furst 
Co., Baltimore. 

Schouler, J., History of the United States under the Constitution. 6 vols. New 
ed. 1899. $13.50. Dodd. 

*Schwab, J. C, The Confederate St-atcs of America. A Financial and Industrial 
History of the South during the Civil War. 1901. $2.50. Scribner. 

*Semple, E. C, American History and Its Geographical Conditions. 1903. 
$3.00 net. Houghton. 

Smith, J. H., The Annexation of Texas. 191 1. Baker and Taylor. 

*Thc South in the Building of the Nation. 12 vols. 1908-1910. $5.00 each. 
The Southern Historical Publication Society. Richmond. Subscription. 

I. History of the States. Edited by J. A. C. Chandler, 3 vols. 

II. The Political History. Edited by F. W. Riley, i vol. 

III. The Economic History. Edited by J. C. Ballagh. 2 vols. 

IV. The Literary and Intellectual Life. Editedby J. C. Henneman. 2 vols. 

V. The Social Life. Edited by S. W. Mitchell. 2 vols. 

VI. Biography. Edited by W. L. Fleming. 2 vols. 

Spears, J. R., A History of the United States Navy. 1898. $1.50 net. Scribner. 
*Stanwood, E., History of the Presidency to i8q6. 1898. $2.50. Houghton. 
Stowall, P. A., Toombs, Robert. 1892. Cassell. 



588 APPENDIX F 

Straus, O., Williams, Roger. 1894. $1.25. Century. 

Sumner, W. G., Robert Morris (1734-1806), Superintendent of Finance under 

Continental Congress. 1892. 
Surft, L., Wiliiam Lloyd Garrison. (American Crisis Biographies.) 
Taussig, F. W., Tarif History of the United States. 1910. 
Taylor, H., Origin and Growth of the American Constitution. 1911. $4.00. 

Houghton. 
*Taylor, R., Destruction and Reconstruction. 
*Thorpe, F. N., The Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters and other 

Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies now or heretofore Form- 
ing the United States of America. 7 vols. $5.25. Government Printing 

Office. 
**Thwaites, R. G., The Colonies. (Epochs of American History.) 1897. 
Tocqueville, A. de. The Republic of the United States of America, 1835-1S40. 

Translated by Henry Reeve. ' Barnes. 1898. $5.00. Century. 
Trevelyan, Sir George Otto, The American Revolution. 3 vols. 1905. $2.00 

net per vol. Part HI (vol. 4) $2.50 net. Longmans. 
Tuckerman, B., Peter Stuyvesant (1602-1682) and the Dutch Settlement in New 

York. (Makers of America.) 1893. 
*Turner, F. J., Rise of the New West. (American Nation Series.) 
Twitchell, J. H., John Winthrop. (Makers of America.) 
*V'an Tyne, C. H., The American Revolution. (American Nation Series.) 
Villard, O. G., John Brown. 1910. 

Walker, G. L., Thomas Hooker. (Makers of America.) 1891. 
Wilson, W., History of the American People. 5 vols. 1902. $17.50 net. 

Harper. 

** Division and Reunion. (Epochs of American History.) 

White, H. A., Lee, Robert E. 1897. $1.50. Putnam. 

Wood, W. B., and Edmonds, J. E., Civil War in the United States. 1905. 

Putnam. 
Woodburn, J. A., Political Parties and Party Problems in the United States. 1903. 

$2.00. Putnam. 
** World Almanac. World Co. $0.35. 



INDEX 



Abolitionists, 329, 330, 331, 332; aid 
slaves to escape, 387, 471 ; oppose 
war, 439 

Abominations, tariff of, 311, 312 

Acadia, French colony of, 96 ; con- 
quest of, by English, 128 

Acadians, deportation of, 154 

Adams, C. F., 437, 438, 485, 488 

Adams, John, moves in Congress for 
abolition of British authority, 180; 
elected President, 262 

Adams, John Quincy, becomes a Re- 
publican, 275; elected President, 
310 

Addams, Miss Jane, 551 

Agents, colonial, 146 

Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of, 137 

Alabama, early settlements in, 126; 
secedes, 408 ; readmitted, 478 

Alabama, the, 416, 460 

Alamo, the siege of, 352, 353 

Alaska, 480 

Albemarle, Duke of, 84 

Albemarle Sound, 84 

Alexander VI, Pope, 13 

Alien and Sedition Acts, 264, 265 

Allen, Ethan, at Ticonderoga, 177 

AUouez, Father, 97 

Amendments to the Constitution, first 
ten, 239 ; eleventh, 249 ; twelfth, 
262; thirteenth, 466; fourteenth, 
473; fifteenth, 478; sixteenth, 548; 
seventeenth, 548 

America, derivation of name, 16 

American Federation of Labor, 500 

American party, 395 

American Railway Union, 500 

American system, 294 

Amnesty, 468, 485 

Anarchists, 505, 530 

Andover, Mass., burned by French and 
Indians, 123 

Andre, Major John, hanged as spy, 
203 

Andrew, J. A., 472 



Andros, Sir Edmund, sent over by 
James to govern New England, 102; 
arrival at Boston, 103; administra- 
tion of, 104, 105; thrown into prison, 
107 

Annapolis, Md., made capital, 117 

Annapolis Convention, 229 

Anne, Queen of England, accession 
to throne, 127 

Antietam. See Sharpsburg 

Anti-Masonic party, 317 

Antinomians, the, 53 

Anti-war feeling in the North, 432, 454 

Apaches, 506 

Appomattox, 463 

Arbitration, Geneva, 494; Bering Sea, 
510; South American, 539 

Arbitration treaties, 545 

Archdale, John, governor of Carolina, 
121 

Argall, Samuel, 96 

Arizona admitted, 546 

Arkansas, secedes, 411; readmitted, 
478 

Armada, the Invincible, 22, 24, 25 

Armies, strength of (1863), 441; (1864), 
453; (1865), 464; disbanded, 480 

Armistead, General, 446 

Arnold, Benedict, treason of, 203 

Arthur, C. A., 504 

Articles of Confederation. See Con- 
federation, Articles of 

Arundel, Earl of, 40 

Astoria, 273 

Atlanta Exposition, 514 

Austrian Succession, War of. Sec 
King George's War 

Baker's Creek. See Champion's Hill 
Balboa, 16 
Balhnger, R. A., 544 
Baltimore, first Lord, 56 
Baltimore, second Lord, 56, 60, 61 
Baltimore, Massachusetts troops at, 
414 



589 



590 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



Bancroft, 328 

Bank of United States, 251, 253, 343, 

344 
Banking, importance of, in middle of 

19th century, 381 ; national, 442 
Banks, General, 447 
l>aptists in Rhode Island, 121 
Bates, Edward, 409 
Beauregard, General P. G. T., 410, 

415; succeeds A. S. Johnston, 425; 

evacuates Corinth, 426 
Beecher, H. W., 438, 472 
Belknap, W. W., 488 
Bell, John, 402 
Benjamin, J. P., 409 
Bennington, Vt., defeat of British at, 

194 
Bering Sea arbitration, 510 
I'.erkeley, Lord, 86 
Berkeley, Sir William, 59, 66, 90 
Bethlehem, Pa., settled by Moravians, 

95 

Bienville, Celoronde, takes possession 
of Ohio valley, 152 

Bimey, J. G., 330, 348, 355 

Black Hawk War, 341 

Black IViirrior, 390 

Blaine, J. G., 487, 503 

Blair, Montgomery, 409 

Blockade, southern, 413, 423, 448 

Bolzius, 134, 142 

Bonhomme Richard, battle with Sera- 
fis, 201, 202 

Bonus Bill, 294 

Boone, Daniel, explores Kentucky,227 

Booth, J. W., 467, 468 

Boscawen, Admiral, 154 

Boston, 52 ; revolt in, against Andros, 
107; population in 1700, 116; 
British troops sent to, 169; Mas- 
sacre, 170; "Tea Party," 171, 173; 
seizure of Dorchester Heights by 
Washington, 180; fire in, 496 

Boston Common, Quakers hanged on, 

55 
Boston Massacre, 170 
Boston " Tea Party," 171, 173 
Boundaries of United States, proposed, 

210; (1783), 216; (1803), 271; 

(1S14), 271 ; (i8r8), 295; (1819), 

295; (1842), 350; (1845), 360; 

(1846), 363; (1848), 364; (1853), 

364 
Boxer indemnity, 542 
Boxers, 527-528 



Braddock, General Edward, defeated 

by French, 153, 154 
Bradford, William, 37 
Bragg, General Braxton, 432, 434, 

435; Murfreesboro, 436; Chicka- 

mauga, 451 ; Chattanooga, 452 
Brandywine, battle of, 196 
Brent, Mrs. Margaret, 59, 61 
liright, John, 438 
Bristow, B. M., 488 
Brook Farm, 384 
Brooks, Preston, 394 
Brown, B. Gratz, 4S3 
Brown, John, 394, 399, 400 
Bryan, W. J., 516, 542, 549 
Bryant, 328 

Buchanan, James, 395, 397, 406 
Buckingham, Duke of, 40 
Buell, General Don Carlos, 422, 423, 

424, 434, 435 
Buena Vista, battle of, 363 
Bull Run. See Manassas 
Bunker Hill, battle of, 178 
Butler, Captain, 42 
Butler, General B. F., 422, 425, 457 
Burlingame treaty, 500 
Burnside, General A. E., 434, 452 
Burr, Aaron, 273, 274 
l?usiness, new phases of, 496 
" Business Man's Party," 528 

Cable, Atlantic, 501 

Cabot, John and Sebastian, 13 

Calhoun, John C, 280, 294, 313, 314, 
316 

California, ceded to United States by 
Mexico, 364 ; early history of, 364 ; 
early American explorers in, 365, 
366 ; conquest of, by Americans, 
366, 367 ; discovery of gold in, 372 ; 
government formed in, 372, 373 ; 
Japanese question in, 541 

Calvert, Leonard, 57, 59 

Cambridge Agreement, 49 

Camden, S.C., battle of, 203 

Cameron, Simon, 409 

Canada, unsuccessful expeditions 
against, by Arnold and Montgomery, 
179, 180; reciprocity with, 545 

Cannon, Joseph, 545 

Cardross, Lord, 93 

Carolina, 83 ; religious toleration in, 
92, 03 ; Spanish expedition against, 
100; expedition against Spaniards 
at St. Augustine prevented, 104; 



INDEX 



591 



religious intolerance of Tories in, 
129; revolution in, against proprie- 
tors, 132; colony of, divided into 
North and South Carolina, 133 

" Carpetbaggers," 481, 486, 489 

Carteret, Sir George, 86 

Cartier, Jacques, 13 

Carver, John, t,^ 

Cass, Lewis, 406 

Catholics. See Maryland 

Cavendish, Lord, 43 

Cedar Creek, battle of, 457 

Centennial Exposition, 497 

Cerro Gordo, battle of, 363 

Cervera, Admiral, 521 

Champion's Hill, battle of, 443 

Champlain, Samuel de, 96 

Chancellorsville, battle of, 442 

Charles I, 51, 52, 56, 67, 70 

Charles II, 70, 82, 83, 85, 92, 102 

Charleston, S.C., first settlement of, 
84; population in 1700, 116; ex- 
pedition of French and Spaniards 
against, in 1706, 130; surrender of, 
to British, 203 ; map of harbor, 
406 ; evacuated, 462 

Chase, S. P., 409 

Chattanooga, battle of, 452 

Cherokee Indians, 139 

Chesapeake Bay, battle of, 209 

Chesapeake, 276 

Chicago fire, 496 

Chickamauga, battle of, 451 

Chickasaw Bayou, battle of, 436 

China, opens " treaty ports " to 
American ships, 377 ; open-door 
policy, 527, 528 ; Taft's reception 

by, 541 

Chinese problem, 500, 503 

Chisholm vs. Georgia, 249 

Chittenden, Miss A. H., 551 

Christina, Fort, 81 

Church of England, 31, 46, 52, 54; 
established in Maryland, 62 ; in 
Maine, 67 

Cities, problem of, 551 

Civic improvement, first efforts to- 
wards, 382 

Civil Rights Bill, 473 

Civil Service Act, 504 

Civil Service classified, 532 

Civil War in England, 66 

Claiborne, William, 58, 59 

Claims, confederate cruisers, 493 

Clarendon, Earl of, 84 



Clark, George Rogers, campaign in 
West, 200 

Clay, Henry, desires war with Eng- 
land, 280, 281 ; urges " American 
system," 294 ; debate with Webster 
on tariff, 307 

Cleveland, Grover, 505, 507, 509 

Coinage, system of, established, 253 

Coinage Act (1873), 494 

Coins, weight of, 494 

Colleges, founded in 1 7th century, 1 1 9, 
120; founded in 18th century, 148 

Colleton, James, governor of Caro- 
lina, prevents expedition against 
Spaniards, 104 

Colorado, 408 

Columbia, S.C., burning of, 462 

Columbus, 8 ; left Portugal for Spain, 
9; aided by Queen Isabella, first 
voyage, 10, 11 ; death, 12 

Cold Harbor, battle of, 457 

Columbian Exposition, 511 

Commerce Court, 544 

Commission government, 551 

Committees of Correspondence, 170, 
171 

Communism, 384, 385 

Compromise of 1850, 373, 374, 375 

Concord, Mass., retreat of British 
from, 176 

Confederacy, formation of, 408 

Confederate constitution, 408 

Confederation, Articles of, 213, 214, 
224, 225 

Congregationalists in New England, 
121 

Congress, first Continental, 174, 175; 
second Continental, 177; petition 
sent to king, 178, 179; Confederate, 
222 ; and the reconstructed states, 
471 

Connecticut, 67; foundation of col- 
ony, 67, 68 ; charter received from 
Charles II, 83 ; under rule of 
Andros, 105; represented at con- 
gress of 1690, 108 

Connecticut compromise, 232 

Conscription, 441 

Conservation, 537, 538 

Constitution, engagement with the 
Guerriire, 282 

Constitution of United States, sign- 
ing of, 237 ; ratification of, by 
states, 238; amendments to, 239, 
240, 548 



592 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



Constitutional Convention, 230, 231, 

232. ^33^ 234, 235, 236 
Constitutional Union party, 402 
Contraband, 439 
Cooke, J. E., 337 
Copperheads, 454, 470 
Corporation Tax Law, 544 
Corporations, growth of, 381 ; use of, 

496 ; power of, 497 
Corinth, Mississippi, 424 ; battle of, 

435 
Cornwallis, Lord, captures Fort Lee, 

184; surrenders British army at 

Yorktown, 209 
Cortez, Hernando, 12 
Cotton, key to the situation (1861), 

420; in England, 437, 438, 439, 450 
Cotton gin, effect of invention of, 300 
Council for New England, 36, 37, 39 ; 

scheme of government, 40; number 

of small grants issued by, 45, 67 
Cowpens, battle of, 205 
Coxey's Army, 512 
Craven, William, Earl of, 104 
Crawford, W. H., 280 
Crittenden Compromise, 407 
Cromwell, Oliver, 62, 72, 79, 80, 82 
Cromwell, Richard, 82 
Culpepper, John, rebellion of, 91 
Cuba, 519, 521, 525, 526 
Custer Massacre, 499 
Cuzco, Peru, i, 2, 3 

Dale, Governor, 28 

Dale's laws, 28 

Danvers, Sir John, 43 

Dare, Virginia, 22 

Debs, E. v., 513, 514. 536. 54''^ 

Debt, United States, 460; Southern 
states, 481 

Davis, Jefferson, Secretary of War, 
390; president of the Confederacy, 
409; Fort Sumter, 410; inaugura- 
tion, 411; habeas corpus, 449; cap- 
ture, 464; release, 480 

Debt national, 268 

Declaration of Independence, 181, 
182 

Deerfield, Mass., attacked by French 
and Indians, 128 

Defenses, Southern (1861), 421 

De Grasse, Admiral, 207, 209, 210 

Delaware, early settlement in, 81 

Delaware, Lord, 28 

De Lome, Ambassador, 519 



Democratic conventions (i860), 402 

Democratic party, 258, 262, 265, 286, 
305- 3 '2. 345' 348, 359' 394> 402, 
460,475,504,515,547 

De Monts, Sieur, 96 

Depreciation of currency, 485 

De Soto, Ferdinand, 14 

Dewey, Commodore, 521 

Diaz, Bartholomew, 10 

Dingley tariff, 516 

Dissenters, 87 

Dix, Dorothea L., 383 

Dominica, battle of, 210, 211 

Dongan, Thomas, treaty with Iroquois, 
99, 100, loi, 103 

Donner party, 366 

Dorr Rebellion, 386 

Douglas, Stephen A., 392, 397, 402 

Dover, N.H., 67, 107 

Draft riots, 441 

Drago, Seiior, 539 

Drake, Sir Francis, 19, 20, 24 

Dred Scott Decision, 395 

Duane, W. J., 344 

Dudley, Joseph, 105 

Duquesne, Fort, built by French, 153 ; 
captured by English, 156 

Dutch, the, fort planted on Connecti- 
cut River by, 69, 73 ; settlements 
in America ceded to England, 86 

Dutch Reformed Church in New 
York, 121 

Dyer, Mary, 55 

Early, General J. A., 457 
Earthquake, San Francisco, 540 
Edict of Nantes, revocation of, 92 
P2ducation, in America, in 17th cen- 
tury, 119; in United States in latter 
part of 1 8th century, 245 ; in middle 
of loth century, 382, 3S3 
Edwards, John, 147 
Elections: {17S9), 238, 248; (1792), 
258; {1796), 262; (1800), 265; 
(1804), 273; (1808), 277; (1812), 
289; (1816), 295; (1S20), 304; 
(1824), 309; (1828), 312; (1832), 
316; (1836), 346; (1840), 349; 
(■844). 355' 360; (1848), 371; 
(1852), 390; (1856), 394; (1S60), 
401; (1861), 411; (1862), 432; 
(1863), 442; (1864), 460; (1866), 
47S; (.868), 478; (1872), 485; 
(1876), 4S8; (1880), 50:1; (1884), 
504; (1888), 507; (1892), 509; 



INDEX 



593 



(1896), 516; (1900), 524; (1904), 
535; (1908), 54^; (1912), 547 

Electoral College, 235 

Electoral Commission, 489 

Electoral Count, 505 

Elizabeth, Queen, 19, 23 

Elkins Act, 537 

Emancipation, early movements to- 
wards, in South, 330 ; unauthorized 
proclamations, 439 ; territories and 
District of Columbia, 440 ; Lin- 
coln's proclamation, 440 ; com- 
pleted, 466 

Embargo, 277 

Emerson, 328 

Endicott, John, 46, 48 

England, foreign relations with, in 
1783, 218; seizure of American 
ships by, 259, 260; and the Con- 
federacy, 437-438, 440, 444, 448 

Ericsson, John, 427 

Eric the Red, 5 

Erie, Lake, naval battle on, 281 

Erie Canal, 295 

Eutaw Springs, S.C., battle of, 207 

Everett, Edward, 402 

Ewell, General, 446 

Express companies, early, 380 

Fair Oaks. See Seven Pines 

Farmers' Alliance, 497 

Farragut, Admiral U. G., 422; New 

Orleans, 425; Mobile, 460 
Federalist party, formation of, 258, 

259 

Ferrar, Nicholas, ;5o, 43 

Fifteenth Amendment, 478 

Fifth Avenue Conference, 487 

Fillmore, Millard, 395 

Finance, state of, during Revolution, 
205; problem of, in 1783, 218, 219 

Five Nations. See Iroquois 

Flag, American, 195 

Flags, Confederate, 412 

Florida, ceded by Spain to England, 
158 ; purchase of, from Spain, 295 ; 
secedes, 408 ; readmitted, 478; con- 
trolled by whites, 489 

Florida, commerce destroyer, 437 

Floyd, J. B., 406 

Force Acts, 481 

Forests, National, 538 

Forrest, General N. B., 434 

Fort Donelson, 423 

Fort Fisher, 462 



Fort Henry, 423 

Fort Sumter, 406, 410, 41 1 

Fourteenth Amendment, 473 

France, secret aid to colonies during 
Revolution, 192, 193; negotiations 
for alliance with America, 196; be- 
comes ally of Republic of United 
States, 198; seizure of American 
ships, 259; naval war with United 
States, 264 

Franklin, Benjamin, 148, 149, 192, 193 

Franklin, state of, 228 

Frederick the Great, 154, 155, 157, 
192, 202 

Fredericksburg, battle of, 434 

Free Democracy, 390 

Free silver. See Silver 

Free-Soil party, 370, 371, 390 

Freedmen's Bureau, 473 

Freeport Doctrine, 397 

Fremont, General J. C., defeats Mexi- 
cans in California, 366, 367, 394, 

439 
French Protestants. See Huguenots 
Fugitive Slave Law, of 1793, 275; of 

1850, 375, 389 
Fulton, Robert, designer of steamer 

CIe7-mont, 274, 275 

Gag rules, 332 

Gage, General, in command of British 

troops at Boston, 175, 176; suc- 
ceeded by Howe, 180 
Gallatin, Albert, 268 
Galveston, attacks on, 447 
Garfield, General, J. A., 451, 503, 504 
Garfield, J. R., 543 
Garrison, W. L., 330 
Genet, Edmond, French ambassador, 

258, 259 _ 
Geneva arbitration, 494 
George III, 157 
Georgia, colony of, established, 134; 

introduction of slavery into, 142; 

made royal province, 144; secedes, 

408 ; readmitted, 478 
Germans, emigration of, to Georgia 

in 1 8th century, 134 
Germantown, Pa., settled by German 

Quakers, 95 
Germantown, battle of, 196 
Germany and Venezuela, 539 
Ghent, treaty of, between England 

and United States, 285, 286 
Giddings, J. R., 331 



594 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, i6, 20 

Gladstone, W. E., 438 

Goffe, William, 82 

Gold, discovery of, in California, 371, 
372 

Gold standard, 495, 516 

Good Hope, Fort of, 69, 73 

Gorges, Sir Ferdinando, 67 

Government, colonial, 144, 145, 146; 
of United States, organization of, 
248, 249 

Grangers, 497 

Grant, General U. S., 416; at Forts 
Henry and Donelson, 423; at 
Shiloh, 424 ; moves against Vicks- 
burg, 436; at Champion's Hill, 
443; takes Vicksburg, 447; at Chat- 
tanooga, 452 ; takes supreme com- 
mand, 455; at "Wilderness," 456; 
at Appomattox, 463; made Presi- 
dent, 478 ; reelected, 485, 487 

Grayson Ordinance, 220 

Great Lakes, first explored by French, 

97 
Great Meadows, engagement at, 153 
Greeley, Horace, 439, 480, 484 
Greene, General Nathanael, takes 
command of American army in the 
South, 204 
Greenland, 5 

Grenville, George, policy in regard to 
colonies, 158; issue of proclamation 
laying off territory ceded by France, 
160 
Guadaloupe Hidalgo, Treaty of, be- 
tween United States and Mexico, 

364 

Guerriire, British warship, engage- 
ment with the Constitution, 282 

Guilford, N.C., battle of, 205 

Gustavus Adolphus, 81 

Habeas Corpus, suspension of writ of, 

441, 449 
Hague Conference, the, 539 
Hale, Nathan, 184 
Halleck, General H. W., 422, 423, 

425- 434 
Hamilton, Alexander, 250, 251, 253, 

257 ; shot in duel with Burr, 273 
Hampton, General W., 490 
Hampton Roads Conference, 462 
Hancock, General W. S., 446, 447, 

503 
Hancock, John, 161, 170, 176, 242 



Hanna, M. A., 529, 530, 535 

Harlem Heights, battle of, 184 

Harpers Ferry, 399, 433 

Harrison, Benjamin, 507, 509 

Harrison, General W. H., 279, 349 

Hartford, Conn., 68, 105 

Hartford Convention, 284 

Hawaii, 510, 526 

Hawkins, Sir John, 17, 18, 20, 24 

Hawthorne, 328 

Hay, John, 527 

Hay-Pauncefote treaty, 548 

Hayes, R. B., 4SS-491 

Ilayne, R. Y., 308, 315 

Heath, Sir Robert, 83 

Hennepin, Father, 96 

Henrietta Maria, 56 

Henry, John, letters, 280 

Henry, I'atrick, 159, 162, 179, 222, 238 

Henry IV, 96 

Hepburn Act, 537 

Herkimer, General, 194 

Hessian troops, 179 

Hobson, Lt. R. P., 522 

Holly Springs, battle of, 436 

Holy Alliance, 305, 356 

Homestead Act, 498 

Hood, General J. B., 458, 459 

Hooker, Cieneral J. E., 442 

Hooker, Rev. Thomas, 68 

House of Burgesses of Virginia, 32, 41 

Houston, Samuel, 352, 407 

Howard, Lord, of Effingham, 23, 24 

Howe, General, 180, 183, 188 

Hudson, Henry, 73 

Hudson Bay Countfy, surrendered by 
French to English, 127 

Huguenots, 87, 92 

Humanitarianism, in middle of nine- 
teenth century, 383 

Hunter, General D., 439, 457 

Hutchinson, Mrs. Anne, 53 

Iberville, Sieur d', takes possession 

of lower Mississippi, 1 26 
Iceland, 4, 5 
Idaho admitted, 506 
Illinois, Clark in, 200; admitted, 578 
Immigration, 323, 498 
Immigration laws, 498-499 
Impeachment, Chase, 268; Johnson, 

477 
" Impending Crisis, The," 396 
Implied powers, 253 
Impressment of seamen, 275, 276 



INDEX 



595 



Income tax, 512, 548 

Independence, movement for, 179-182 

Independent Democrats, appeal, 392 

Independent treasury, 347 

India, 7, 8, 9 

Indian Territory, 341 

Indiana, territory, 255; admitted, 578 

Indians, 3, 6, 87, 88, 254, 279 

Individualism, 334 

Industrial Workers of the World, 500, 

555 

Industrialism, 502 

Industries, 118, 143, 241, 303, 325, 
381, 496, 498, 501 

Ingle, Richard, 59, 61 

Initiative, 553 

Insurgents, 544, 547 

Interstate Commerce Act, 507 

Intolerable Acts, 173, 174 

Inventions, 241, 3S0, 381, 501 

Ipswich, Mass., citizens of, refused to 
pay tax levied by Andros, 104 

Ironclads, Confederate, 448 

Iroquois, 88 ; enemies of France, 96, 
97 ; treaty of, with English, 99 ; 
attacked by French, 100; acknowl- 
edged English subjects by France, 
loi ; joined by Tuscaroras, 139 

Isabella, 10 

Island No. 10, 424, 425 

Jackson, General A., 280, 285, 309, 

317. 339' 340, 341,342, 343 

Jackson, "Stonewall," 415; campaign 
in the Shenandoah valley, 429 ; at 
second Manassas, 431; at Harpers 
Ferry, 433 ; at Chancellorsville, 442 

James I, 27, 29, 31, 23, 43- 44 

James II, 102, 103, 104, 105, to6 

Jamestown, Va., founded, 27; burned, 
90 

Japan, 377, 380, 528, 540, 541 

Jasper, Sergeant, 180 

Jay, John, 249, 261, 262 

Jefferson, Thomas, 181, 257, 263, 267, 
268 

Jesuits, missions of, 97 

Jews in America, 120 

Johnson, Andrew, 460, 468, 469, 475, 

477 
Johnson, Sir Nathaniel, 129, 130 
Johnson, Robert, 132 
Johnson, Sir William, 139 
Johnston, General A. S., 422, 423; 

at Shiloh, 424 



Johnston, General J. E., at Manassas, 
415; at Seven Pines, 428; in 
Georgia, 458, 461, 462, 464 

Jones, John Paul, 201 

Kansas, struggle for, 393 ; admitted, 

408 
Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 392 
Kaskaskia, 200 
Kearney, Denis, 503 
Kearney, General S., 367 
Kearsarge, 460 

Kenesaw Mountain, battle of, 458 
Kent Island, 58 

Kentucky, 227, 255, 300, 323, 416, 435 
Kentucky Resolutions, 264, 265 
Kettle Hill, battle of, 522 
Key, F. S., 282 
Key, General D. M., 491 
King George's War, 136 
King Philip's War, 89 
King William's War, 109 
King's Mountain, battle of, 204r 
Kitchen Cabinet, 316 
Knights of the Golden Circle, 454 
Know-Nothings, 395 
Knox, General H., 190 
Ku-Klux Klan, 482, 483 

Labor problems, 555 

Lafayette, Marquis de, 197 

La Follette, R. M., 543, 547 

Lake Erie, battle of, 281 

Lands, public, 219, 22c, 291, 292, 380 

La Salle, exploration of the Missis- 
sippi, 99 

Laurens, John, 206 

Lawrence, Kans., 394 

Lecompton constitution, 396 

Lee, Arthur, 192 

Lee, Fitzhugh, 520 

Lee, Fort, N.J., 184 

Lee, General Charles, 185, 186 

Lee, General Robert E., succeeds 
J. E. Johnston, 428; attacks 
McClellan, 430; at second Manas- 
sas, 431 ; at Sharpsburg, 433; at 
Fredericksburg, 434; at Chancel- 
lorsville, 442 ; at Gettysburg, 445- 
447; in the "Wilderness," 455-456; 
character, 461 ; at Petersburg, 463; 
at Appomattox, 463 

Lee, R. H., 180 

Legare, J. M., 337 

Leif Ericson, 5 



596 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



Leisler, Jacob, revolt headed by, 107 ; 
congress called by, 107 ; execution 
of, 112 

Leon, Ponce de, 14 

Leopard, the, 276 

Lewis and Clark expedition, 272 

Lexington, battle of, 175, 176 

Liberal Republicans, 472, 474, 477, 
4S0, 483, 484, 490 

Liberator, the, 330 

Liberia, 299 

Liberty Party, 348, 355,371 

Lincoln, Abraham, debate with 
Douglas, 397 ; elected President, 
402 ; inaugurated, 409 ; calls for 
volunteers, 411; blockade procla- 
mation of, 423; letter to Greeley, 
439 ; emancipation proclamation 
by, 440 ; liabeas corpus, 44 1 ; mild 
genius of, 454; reelected, 460; 
Hampton Roads Conference, 462 ; 
attitude toward South, 466; assas- 
sination, 467; reconstruction policy 
of, 469 

Lincoln-Douglas Debate, 397 

Literature, 325, 326, 327, 32S, 336, 

Livingston, R. R., 270, 271 

Locke, John, 84 

London Company, 26, 29. ^SV^ Virginia 

Company 
Long, Major, 365 
Long Island settlements, 73 
Longfellow, 328 
Longstreet, General James, 445, 446, 

452 
Lords of Trade, 143 
Louis XIV, 99, 126 
Louis XVI, 206 
Louisburg, 136, 137, 155 
Louisiana, 99, 269, 270, 271, 478, 

490 
Louisiana Purchase Exposition, 537 
Lovejoy, P^lijah, 331 
Lowell, 328 
Lowndes, W. J., 304 
Loyalists, 191 

Lundy's Lane, battle of, 282 
Lutherans, 121, 134, 148 
Lyon, Capt. N. 414 

McClellan, General G. B., 415, 422; 
peninsular campaign, 428; change 
of base, 429, 431; at Antietam, 433 ; 
nominated for President, 460 



McCormick reaper, 380 
McDowell, General Irvin, 415, 429 
Mc Henry, Fort, attack on, by British, 

282 
McKinley, William, 508, 516, 520, 524, 

530 

McLane, L., 344 

Macon's Bill No. 2, 279 

Madison, James, 231, 265, 277, 278 

Magazines, popular, beginning of, 383 

Magellan, 16 

Maine, 67 ; French settlements on 
coast of, 96; taken over by crown, 
102 ; annexed to Massachusetts, 
III; admitted to Union, 302 

Maine, the battleship, 519 

Mallory, S. R., 409 

Malvern Hill, battle of, 431 

Manassas, first battle, 415; second 
battle, 431 

Manhattan Island, purchase, 73 

Manila, battle at, 521 

Manufactures, in 17th century, 123; 
(1789), 241; and War of 181 2, 303 ; 
and tariff, 303 ; effects of, 325 ; 
expansion of, 38 1 ; Northern, 420 

Marietta, Ohio, 222 

Marion, Francis, 203 

Marquette, 97 

Marshall, John, 263, 298 

Mary II, Queen of England, 106 

Maryland, origin of name, 56; found- 
ing of, 57 ; civil war in, 59; Act of 
Toleration passed by Assembly, 61 ; 
religious toleration in, 62, 63 ; civil 
strife between Protestants and 
Catholics, 107 ; made royal province, 
1 1 1 

Massachusetts, formation of state, 50 ; 
charter of, 51, 52; religious intoler- 
ance in, 52, 53, 54, 55 ; memorial to 
Parliament, 71 ; refusal to attack 
Dutch, 75, 76; made royal province, 
102; administration of Andros, 104, 
105; represented at Congress of 
1690, 108; expeditions against Can- 
ada, 109; woolen mill established 
in, 123 

Massachusetts Company, 45, 49, 50 

Mason, John, 67 

Mason, J. M., 391, 416 

Mason and Dixon's line, 94 

Massasoit, 36 

Mather, Cotton, 51 

Mather, Increase, 51 



INDEX 



597 



Maximilian, 480 

A/ayJio7VL'i-, the, 35 

Mayflower Compact, the, 35, 36 

Meade, General G. G., at Gettysburg, 

445 

Mecklenburg declaration of indepen- 
dence, 181 

Memminger, C. G., 409 

Memphis, battle of, 426 

Menendez, Pedro, 14 

Merchant marine, growth of, 377 

" Merchant Princes," 242 

Merger, railway, 533 

A/er>imac. See Virginia 

Metacom. See Philip, King 

Mexican War, 363, 364 

Mexico, protests against annexation 
of Texas, 360 

Mexico, City of, 3, 364 

Michigan admitted, 578 

Military districts, 476 

Mill, J. S., 438 

Miller, Thomas, 91 

Mims, Fort, 280 

Minden, battle, 155 

Mines, 499 

Minnesota, 398, 578 

Minuit, Peter, 81 

Minutemen, 175, 176 

Missionary Ridge, battle of, 452 

Mississippi, territory of, organized, 
256; secedes, 408; controlled by 
Federals, 447 ; readmitted, 479 

Mississippi River explored by Mar- 
quette, 97 

Missouri, question of slavery in, 301, 
302 ; war in, 414 

Missouri Compromise, 302, 303, 392 

Mitchell, John, 532 

Mobile, Ala., settled by DTberville, 
126 

Mobile, battle of, 460 

Mobilier, Credit, 488 

Modoc war, 499 

Molasses Act, 143 

Money, in America in 17th century, 
123; Continental, 187; United 
States, 253; Confederate, 450; 
depreciation, 494 

Monitor and Virginia, 428 

Monmouth, battle, 198, 199 

Monroe, James, 295 

Monroe Doctrine, 305, 306, 437, 480, 

5". 539 
Montana admitted, 506 



Montcalm, 156 

Monterey, 367, 373 

Montesquieu, 235 

Montgomery, General Richard, 180 

Montgomery convention, 408 

Montreal, region near, attacked by 

John Schuyler, 109, no 
Moore's Creek, N. C, victory of 

Whigs over Tories, 180 
Moravians in Pennsylvania, 95 
Morgan, General J. H., 434, 453 
Mormons, 385 
Morris, Robert, 223, 224 
Morse, S. F. B., 381 
Morton, Joseph, 100 
Motley, 328 
Moultrie, Colonel, 180 
Mound builders, i 
Mount Vernon, 242 
Muhlenburg, Frederick, 248 
Muhlenburg, H. M., 148 
Municipal government, 551 
Murfreesboro, battle, 436 

Napoleon I, treaty of, with United 
States in iSoo, 264; cedes Louis- 
iana, 270; foreign policy, 277, 279 

Napoleon III, neutrality, 423; inva- 
sion of Mexico, 437. See Maximilian 

Narragansett Indians, 74, 89 

Nashville, battle, 459 

Nat Turner's Rebellion, 333 

National Republicans, 312, 316, 346. 
See also Whigs 

National road, 293, 294 

Nationalism, growth of, 298, 299,314, 
315; reenforced by foreign immi- 
grants, 323, 324; in 1865, 466 

Native races, i 

Navigation acts, 79, 112-113 

Navigation Compromise, 234 

Necessity, Fort, 153 

Negroes, 12, 118, 299, 333, 440, 466, 
470, 473. 482 

Neutrality, English and French proc- 
lamations of (1861), 423 

Nevada, territory, 408 ; admitted, 461 

New Amsterdam, 73 ; surrendered to 
English, 85 

New England, council for, 39, 45 ; 
named by Captain John Smith, 39; 
settlers in, murdered by Indians, 
89; dependent on the crown, 102; 
dominion of, 102 ; supports protec- 
tion, 311 



598 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



New England Confederation, 69, 73, 

74. 75 
New France, extent of territory, y6, 

97 

New Grenada, canal treaty, 377 

New Hampshire, 67 ; annexation to 
Massachusetts, 69 ; made a royal 
province, 92 

New Haven, Conn., independent 
towns, 69 ; treatment of, by Charles 
II, 82, 83 

New Jersey, foundation of, 85, 86 ; 
religious toleration in, 93 ; added 
to "dominion of New England," 
106 

New Jersey Plan, 232 

New Mexico, ceded to United States 
by Mexico, 364 ; admitted, 546 

New Netherland, 80, 103 

New Orleans, battle of, 284, 285 ; 
capture of, 425 

New South, 514 

New Sweden, 81 

New York, 85; general assembly of, 
abolished by James H, 103; added 
to " dominion of New England," 
105; revolt in, against Stuart power, 
107 ; represented at congress of 
1690, 108; in confederation, 225, 
226; election of iSoo, 266; election 
of 1844, 360; election of 1S48, 371 

New York City, population in 1700, 
116; siege of, 199; temporary capi- 
tal of Union, 248 

Newcastle, Thomas, Duke of, ad- 
ministration of, 153, 154 

Newfoundland, 20 ; attempted coloni- 
zation by Lord Baltimore, 56; sur- 
rendered by French to English, 127 

Newspapers, colonial. 119; Tory, 191; 
daily, 246; in middle of nineteenth 
century, 383 

Nicaragua Canal, 535 

Nichols, Governor, 103 

Nicholson, Deputy Governor, 107 

Nominating conventions, 316 

Non-Intercourse Act, 279 

Norsemen. See Vikings 

North Anna, battle of, 457 

North Carolina, first permanent settle- 
ments in, 84 ; freedom of govern- 
ment, 91 ; made royal province, 
133; battle of Alamance, 170; 
secedes, 411; readmitted, 478 

North Dakota admitted, 506 



North, Lord, 169; measures for con- 
ciliation, 197, 198 

Northeastern boundary, 350 

Northern Virginia, army of, 445, 455 

Northwest Ordinance, 221 

Northwest passage, 16, 17 

Northwest Territory, organization of, 
221 

Northwestern boundary (1818), 295; 
(1846), 363 

Norway, 4 

Nova Scotia, French settlements on 
coast of, 96; ceded to England, 127 

Nullification, theory of, 314; ordi- 
nance of, passed by South Carolina, 
317 ; repealed, 318 

Oberlin College, 331 

Oglethorpe, J. IC, colony of Georgia 
established by, 133, 134; attack on 
St. Augustine, 1740; led by, 135; 
repulse of Spanish at Frederica, 

1.35' 136 

Ohio, formation of state of, 254, 255; 
admitted, 255; settlement, 21 1, 254; 
immigration to, 300 ; growth, 323 

Ohio Company, first, 152; second, 220 

Ohio valley, 152, 153 

Oklahoma, 542 (note) ; 579 

Olney, R. G., 511 

Open-Door Policy, 526 

Orange, Fort, 73 

Oregon, claims of Russia to, 356, 357 ; 
claims of England to, 357 ; early 
settlers in, 357 ; missionaries to the 
Indians of, 358 ; American occupa- 
tion of, 358, 359 ; boundary of, 
settled by treaty with England, 363; 
territory of, organized, 368 ; ad- 
mitted, 39S ; disputed election in, 
489 

Oriskany, N.Y., battle of, 194 

Orleans, Isle of, 164 

Ostend Manifesto, 390 

Otis, James, 159 

Paine, Thomas, 179, 187 

Panama, Isthmus of, treaty with New 

Granada in reference to, 377 ; State 

of, 535 ; tolls, 548 
Panama Canal, 533-535 
Panama Canal Act, 548 
Pan-American Congress, 508 
Panic of 1819, 304 ; of 1837, 346, 347; 

of 1893, 511 



INDEX 



599 



Paris, treaty of, between France and 
England, 158; between Great Brit- 
ain and United States, 211 

Parker, A. B., 536 

Parkman, 328 

Parliament, authority over colonies, 
69, 70 ; Massachusetts commanded 
to surrender charter by, 70, 71 

•' Parson's cause," law case in Virginia, 
159, 160 

Paterson, William, 231 

Patroons, jt, 

Payne-Aldrich tariff, 543 

Peace Congress, 408 

Pea Ridge, battle, 414 

Pemberton, General, 443 

Peninsular Campaign, 428-430 

Penn, William, 93 

Pennsylvania, 56 ; charter issued to 
Penn, by Charles II, 93; constitu- 
tion of, 95 ; religious toleration in, 
95 ; election of 1S60, 401 

Pepperell, Sir W., 137 

Pequot War, 74 

Perry, Commodore O. H., 281 

Perryville, battle of, 435 

" Personal Liberty laws," 389 

Peru, 1-2 

Pet banks, 344 

Petersburg, 458, 463 

Philadelphia, foundation of, 95 ; 
population in 1700, 116; capture 
of, by British, 196; exposition, 

497 

Philip, King, 89 

Philip II, 22, 23 

Philippine Islands, 521, 523-526 

Phips, Sir William, 109 

Pickett, General G. E., 446 

Pierce, Franklin, 390 

Pike, Lieut. Zelulon, 272 

Pilgrims, 31, 32, 35, 36 

Pinchot, Gifford, 543 

Pinckney, Charles, 232 

Pinckney, C. C, 263 

Pinckney Plan, 232 

Pineda, 14 

Pioneer life, 297 

Piracy, 124 

Pitt, William, 151-167; sends f?eet 
against Quebec, 156; friend of 
colonies, 158; becomes prime min- 
ister, 163; illness of, 165; later 
career, 181, 197 

Pittsburg Landing, battle of, 424 



Pizarro, Francisco, 12 

Plantations, description of, 243 

Plassey, battle of, 155 

Plattsburg, N.Y., repulse of British 
at, 282 

Plymouth commonwealth, 36 ; repre- 
sented at congress of 1690, 108; 
annexed to Massachusetts, 11 1 

Plymouth Company, 26, 29, 39 

Pocahontas, 27 

Poe, E. A., 336 

Pokanoket Indians, 89 

Polk, General Leonidas, 416 

Polk, James K., 360-363 

Ponce de Leon, 14 

Pontiac, attacks frontier posts, 158 

Pope, General John, 425, 431 

Popular sovereignty, 392 

Population, colonial, 87, 116; (1790), 
241; Western, 300, 323; foreign, 
323; (1850), 381; (i860), 381; in 
middle of nineteenth century, 381, 
382; of North and South, 417 

Populist Party, 509, 516 

Port Royal, Nova Scotia, 109, no 

Port Royal, South Carolina, 93, 
100 

Porter, General Fitz-John, 430 

Post Office, improvements in, in mid- 
dle of nineteenth century, 380 

Postal system, colonial, 123 

Potomac, army of the, 422, 433 

Powhatan, 42 

Presbyterians, 87 

Prescott, 328 

Prescott, General William, 178 

Presidency, original conception of, 
256 

Presidential Succession Act, 505 

Princeton, battle of, 189, 190 

Printing in seventeenth century, 119 

Privateers, 283 

Proclamation, royal, 160 ; George III, 
178; Neutrality, 258 ; Jackson, 317; 
amnesty, 468 ; " insurrection" (1866), 
469 

Proclamation Line, 160 

Progressives, 547 

Prohibition, first state law passed by 
Maine, 384 

Prohibition party, 509, 536 

Proprietor, or Proprietary. See Balti- 
more, Pennsylvania 

Protectionists, 304, 308, 310, 316 

Pure Food Law, 537 



6oo 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



Puritan Church established in Massa- 
chusetts, 51 

Puritans, 46; emigration to Massa- 
chusetts, 51 ; in Virginia, 54 ; in 
Mar)land, 61, 62 

Puritan party, 46 

Putnam, General Israel, 178 

Putnam, Rufus, 222 

Quakers, treatment of, in Massa- 
chusetts, 54, 55; in Rhode Island, 
55; control in New Jersey, 86; set 
up democratic form of government 
in New Jersey, 93 ; in Pennsyl- 
vania, 95 

Quartering Act, passed, 160; opposi- 
tion to, 169 

Quebec, founded, 96; expedition of 
Phips against, 109; taken, 156; 
attacked, 180 

Quebec, province, 174 

Queen Anne's War, 127, 128 

Quincy, Josiah, 272 

Radicals, 471, 472, 474, 475, 479, 483, 
491 

Railroads, early, 320, 321 ; growth of, 
up to i860, 380, 495, 496 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, 20; settlement 
on Roanoke Island, N.C., 22, 24 

Randolph, Edmund, 260 

Randolph, Edward, 113 

Randolph, John, 311 

Ratification of Constitution, 238 

Rebating, 506 

Recall, 553 

Reciprocity, Canadian, 545 

Reconstruction, Lincoln, 469 ; John- 
son, 469; congressional, 471-474; 
military districts, 475; Act of 1867, 
476 ; readmission, 478 ; Force Acts, 
481; Ku-Klux,483; Act of Amnesty, 
485 ; local conflicts, 486-487 ; white 
control, 490 

Red River Expedition, 447 

Referendum, 552 

Regulators, 170 

Religion, revivals in colonies, 147, 148; 
state of, in United States in latter 
part of i8th century, 243, 244; NN'est- 
ern, 297 

Religious bodies in America in 17th 
century, 120 

Republican (Democratic) party. See 
Democratic 



Republican party, 394, 401, 470, 472, 

477. 485, 487. 504. 507. 509. 5 '5. 
516, 528, 536, 542 

Resources, Southern {1S61), 418; 
Northern (1861), 419; (1864) 453 

Resumption Act, 494 

Revere, Paul, 176 

Revolutionary War, 17 5-2 11 

Rhett, Colonel William, 125, 131 

Rhode Island, foundation of, 53 ; reli- 
gious tolerance in, 53, 54, 55; charter 
accepted from Long Parliament, 
66 ; royal charter received, 83 ; under 
rule of Andros, 105; recalls dele- 
gates in Congress, 229 ; ratifies Con- 
stitution, 238 ; Dorr Rebellion, 386 

Ribault, 83 

Richmond, Va., 411 ; evacuation, 463 

Rights of Americans, 239 

Roanoke Island, 22 

Robertson, James, 228 

Robinson, William, 55 

Rochambeau, Count of, 198 

Rockefeller, J. D., 496 

Rockingham, 163, 210 

Rodney, Sir George, 210 

Roosevelt, Theodore, 522, 532, 533, 
536, 537- 539. 541. 542, 546, 547. 
548 

Root, Elihu, 539 

Rosecrans, General W. S., at Corinth, 
435; at Murfreesboro,436; atChick- 
amauga, 451 

" Rough Riders," 522 

Ryswick, treaty of, no 

Sabine Pass, 447 

St. Augustine, Florida, 14; expedition 

by South Carolina against, 128; 

second expedition against, under 

Oglethoq^e, 135 
St. Clair, General Arthur, 254 
St. Johns River. Florida, 14 
St. Leger, Colonel, 193, 194 
St. Mary's, Md., 58 
Salem, Mass., 45; witchcraft at, 122 
Salzburghers, 134 
.Samoa, 508, 526 
.Sampson, Admiral W., 521 
San Domingo customs, 539 
San Francisco, 20, 364, 540 
San Gabriel River, 367 
San Ildefonso, treaty, 269 
San Jacinto, 354 
San Juan Hill, 522 



INDEX 



60 1 



San Salvador, 10, 11 

Sandys, Sir Edwin, 30, 31, 32, 33, 43 

Sandys Constitution, 40 ; abolished, 

44 

Santa Anna, Antonio, 351 

Santa Fe, 14, 367 

Santa Maria, 10 

Saratoga, N.Y., surrender of Bur- 
goyne at, 196 

Savannah, Ga., founded, 134; victory 
of British at, 200 ; taken by Sher- 
man, 460 

Savanttak, the, 322 

Scalawags, 481 

Schenectady, N.Y., attacked by French 
and Indians, 107 

Schley, Admiral W. S., 521 

Schools. See Education 

Schurz, General C, 483, 487, 491 

Schuyler, General Philip, 186 

Schuyler, John, 109 

Scotch-Irish in America, 117 

Scotch, the, exiles in Carolina, 93 ; 
settlers in Pennsylvania, 95 

Scott, Winfield, in Mexican War, 363, 

364 
Seal hunters' difficulty, 510 
Seceding states, 408, 41 1 
Secession, Ordinance of, 404 
Secession conventions : South Caro- 
lina, 403 ; throughout the South, 
407 
Sections compared (i86i),4i7; (1864), 

453; representation of, 325, 581 
Sedition Act, 264 

Seminole War, first, 295 ; second, 341 
Semmes, Admiral Raphael, 416 
Separation, movement towards, 179 
Serapis, battle with Bonhotnme Rich- 
ard, 201, 202 
Seven Days' Battles, 430 
Seven Pines, battle of, 428 
Seven Years' War, 154, 155, 156, 157, 

158 
Severalty Act, 506 
Sevier, John, 204, 228 
Seward, W. H., 392, 396, 409, 467 
Seymour, Horatio, 478 
Shadrach, 389 
Shafter, General, 521 
Shaftesbury, Earl of, 84 
Sharpsburg, battle of, 433 
Shays's Rebellion, 229, 230 
Shaw, Rev. A. G., 551 
Shaw, Colonel R. G., 440 



Sheridan, General P. H., 457 

" Sheridan's Ride," 457 

Sherman, General W. T., 436, 455; 
at Atlanta, 458; march to the sea, 
459; at Savannah, 460; at Colum- 
bia, 462, 463 

Sherman, Roger, 231, 232 

Sherman Anti-trust Act, 508, 533 

Shiloh, battle of, 425 

Silver, demonetized, 494; Bland-Alli- 
son Act, 502 ; Purchase Act, 509, 
512; free-silver party,5 1 5 

Simms, W. G., 337 

Sioux War, 499 

Six Nations. See Iroquois 

Slade, William, 331 

Slave trade, 17, 142, 234, 275 

Slavery in America, 118, 142, 221, 234, 
246, 275, 299, 324, 355, 368, 369, 
392, 438, 439, 44c, 466 

Slaves, Indian, 89 

Slidell, John, 416 

Sloughter, Henry, 112 

Smith, C. P., 409 

Smith, Captain John, 27, 28, 39 

Smith, General Kirby, 434, 435, 461, 
464 

Smith, Gerrit, 480 

Smith, J. H., 365 

Smith, Joseph, 385 

Smith, Sir Thomas, 30, 32 

Smuggling, 124 

Social classes in United States in 
1789, 244 

Socialist party, 509, 536, 555 

Soloman, Haym, 223 

Sonoma, 366 

Sothel, Seth, 91 

Soto, Ferdinando de, 14 

Soule, Pierre, 391 

South Carolina, 56 ; earliest settle- 
ments in, 84 ; made royal province, 
133; passes ordinance of nullifica- 
tion, 317; secedes, 403; readmitted. 

South Carolina Exposition, 312, 313 
South Dakota admitted, 506 
Southampton, Henry, Earl of, 30, 33, 

43 
Spain, secret aid to colonies during 
Revolution, 193; foreign relations 
with, in 1783, 218; Mississippi 
treaty, 255 ; closes Mississippi, 269; 
treaty of 1 819, 295; Black Warrior, 
390; war with, 520-525 



602 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



Spanish Succession, War of. ^V^ 

Queen Anne's War 
Spanish War, 520-525 
Spaulding, Mrs. H. H., 358 
Specie circular, 344, 345 
Specie payments, 494 
Spoils system, 340 
Spottsylvania, battle of, 457 
Sprigg vs. Pennsylvania, 375 
Squatter sovereignty, 392 
Stamp Act, passed, 160; opposition 

of colonists to, 161, 162; repealed, 

163 
Standard Oil Company, 496, 547 
Standish, Miles, 37 
Stanton, E. M., 406, 454, 476-477 
Stanwix, Fort, treaty, 139; battle, 194 
Stark, General John, 194 
Star of the West, 407 
" Star-Spangled Banner," 282 
States' Rights, 315, 336, 374 
Stay and tender laws, 226 
Steamboats, early, 292 
Stephens, A. II., 392,407, 409, 462 
Steuben, Baron von, 197 
Stevens, Thaddeus, 471, 472 
Stone, William, 61 
Stony Point, capture of, 200 
Stowe, Mrs. H. B., 389 
Strict construction, 253 
Strikes, 501, 505, 510, 513, 532, 554 
Stuart, General J. E. B., 457 
Stuart Town, 93 ; destroyed by 

Spanish, 100 
Stuyvesant, Peter, 85 
Suffrage in the North in middle of 

nineteenth century, 386 
Sugar Act (1733)- '43 
Sullivan, Fort, S.C., attack on, by 

British, 180 
Sullivan, General John, 186 
Sumner, Charles, 394 
Sumter, General Thomas, 203 
Supreme Court, 249, 341, 375, 395, 

479. 533 
Surplus distribution, 346 
Sutter's Fort, 372 
Swallow, Silas, 536 
Swanzey, attacked by King Philip, 89 
Swedes, 81 

Symmes Company, 220 
Syndicalism, 554 

Taft, W. H., 541, 542, 543, 545. 547 
Tallmadge, James, 301 



Tammany Society, formation of, 245 

Taney, R. B., 344 

Tariff, act of 17S9, 249, 250; of 1816, 
304 ; agreement of East and West, 
306; division in New England over, 
306, 307; act of 1824 pa.ssed, 308; 
opposition to protection in South, 
310, 311; Tariff of Abominations, 
311,312; of 1832, 316; compromise 
of 1833, 318; of 1842, 350; of i860, 
401; during the war, 413; Cleve- 
land on, 507; McKinley bill. 508; 
Wilson-Gorman bill, 512; Dingley 
bill, 516; Payne-Aldrich bill, 543 

Tariff Board, 544 

Tarleton, Banastre, 203 

Taylor, General Richard, 447 

Taylor, General Zachary, campaign in 
Mexico, 363; elected President, 371 

Tea duty, 170 

Tecumseh, 279 

Telegraph, 381 

Teller, Senator, 515 

Tennessee, community of " the Wa- 
tauga Association," 228; admitted 
to Union, 255; readmitted, 474 

Tenure of Office Act, 476, 477 

Texas, beginnings of, 351 ; resistance 
to Mexican authorities, 351 ; civil 
war in, 352 ; declaration of inde- 
pendence, 353 ; war with Mexico, 
353' 354; republic of, 354; annex- 
ation of, agitated, 355 ; annexation 
of, 361 ; importance in Confederacy, 
448 

Texas vs. White, 479 

Thames River, Canada, battle of, 281 

Thirteenth Amendment, 466, 469 

Thirty Years' War, 48 

Tliomas, General G. H., at Chicka- 
mauga, 451, 452 ; at Nashville, 459 

"Three fifths compromise," 232 

Ticonderoga, capture of, 177 

Tilden, S. J., 488 

Timrod, Henry, 337 

Tippecanoe, battle of, 279 

Tohopeka, 285 

Toleration, Act of, of Maryland, 61, 
62 ; abolished, 107 

Toombs, Robert, 409, 410 

Tordesillas, treaty, 13 

Tories, in .America, 171 ; confiscation 
of property of, 222 

Toscanelli, 8. 9 

Town meetings, 38, 146 



INDEX 



603 



Townshend, Charles, 168 

Townshend duties, 169 

Trade and Plantations, Board of, crea- 
tion of, 113, 114, 130, 132 

Trade of colonies, 139, 140 

Trades-unions, beginning of, 381 

Travis, W. B., 352 

Treaties, with France (1778), 19S; 
with England (1783), 211; with 
Spain (1795), -55; "^'i*^ England 
(1795), 261 ; with Napoleon (iSoo), 
264; of Ghent {181 5), 285; with 
England (1818) 295; with Spain 
(1819), 295; with England (1842), 
350; with Russia (1824), 357; with 
England (1846), 363 ; with Mexico 
(1848), 364; immigration, 498; with 
China, 500, 503; v/ith Spain (1899), 
523 ; arbitration, 545 

Trenholm, 409 

Trent affair, 416 

Trenton, battle of, 188, 189 

Tripolitan War, 268, 269 

Troops, withdrawal, 490 

Trusts, 496, 508, 529 

Tryon, Governor William, 170 

Turks, 8 

Tuscarora War, 131 

Tweed Ring, 488 

Tyler, John, succeeds Harrison as 
President, 349 ; opposition of Whigs 
to, 350; favors annexation of Texas, 
355 

"Uncle Tom's Cabin," 389 

Underground railroad, 387 

UnderAvood, O. L., 549 

Union Democrats, 460 

Union Pacific Railway, 495 

United Colonies of New England. 

See New England Confederation 
Upshur, A. P., 355 
Utah, settlement of, by Mormons, 385 ; 

admitted, 506 
Utrecht, treaty of, 127, 142 
Uxmal, Yucatan, 2, 3 

Vagrancy laws, 470, 474 
Vallandigham, C. L., 454 
Valley Forge, 196 

Van Buren, Martin, elected President, 
345, 346 ; policy of, during panic of 

1837. 347 
Van Dorn, General E., 4T4, 435 
Van Rensselaer, Jeremias, 103 



Venezuela arbitration, 511 
Vera Cruz, 17, 20, 363 
Vergennes, Count, 193, 210 
Vermont, organizes separate govern- 
ment, 226; admitted to the Union, 

254 

Verrazano, 13 

Vesey, Denmark, -x^-i^T^ 

Vespucius, Americus, 16 

Vicksburg, attacked by Farragut,425; 
Grant at, 436, 443 ; surrenders, 447 

Vikings, 4, 5 

Vincennes, 200 

Vinland, 5, 6 

Virginia, origin of name, 20; extent 
of territory claimed by English, 26 ; 
first settlement in, 26; first legis- 
lature of English America, 32 ; mas- 
sacre by Indians, 42 ; first royal 
governor commissioned, 44; reli- 
gious intolerance in, 54 ; settlers in, 
murdered by Indians, 89 ; discontent 
in, 90; women accused as witches, 
122; secedes, 411; readmitted, 479 

Vh-ginia, the, and the Cumberland, 
427 ; and the Alonitor, 428 

Virginia Company, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 
39, 40, 43, 44 

Virginia Plan, 231 

Virginia Resolutions, 264, 265 

Virginia's Magna Charta, 32 

Volunteers, calls for, 411 

Walker, Leroy, 409 

Wakarusa War, 393, 394 

War of 1812, 281-285 ; of Secession, 
406-464. See battles and generals 
by names 

Warren, General Joseph, 178 

Warwick, Earl of, 40 

Washington, state, admitted, 506 

Washington, D.C., site chosen for 
capital, 251 ; capture of, by pritish, 
282 

Washington, Fort, N.Y., captured by 
Howe, 184 

W^ashington, George, leads Virginia 
expedition against French, 153; 
appointed commander in chief of 
continental army, 177 ; given abso- 
lute power by Congress for conduct- 
ing war, 187 ; difiiculty in keeping 
army together, 188; elected Presi- 
dent, 248; view of Presidency, 256, 
257; reelected to Presidency, 258; 



6o4 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



issues proclamation of neutrality 
towards France and England, 258; 
allied with Federalists, 260 ; with- 
drawal from public life, 262 

Watauga, 228 

Watling Island, 1 1 

Watson, T. E., 536 

Wayne, General Anthony, 200, 254 

Wealth, concentration of, 529; dis- 
tribution of, 555 

Weaver, J. B., 509 

Webster, Daniel, 280; debate with 
Clay on tariff, 307; in 1828, 311; 
debate with Hayne, 315; Secretary 
of State, 350; in 1850, 374 

Welsh, the, settlers in Pennsylvania, 

95 

Wesley, Charles, secretary to Ogle- 
thorpe, 134 

Wesley, John, 134, 148 

West, the, emigration to, 220, 221 ; 
fear of, by the East, 271, 272; 
character of early population of, 
290, 291 ; sentiment of, 296, 297 ; 
causes of division in, 299, 300, 301 

West Florida, 160, 219 

West Virginia, formation of, 414 ; ad- 
mitted, 415, 460 

W'estem Reserve, 255 

Whalley, Edward, 82 

Whig party, 346, 348, 349, 360, 369, 
371. 390, 394 

Whigs, formation of party in America, 
171 

Whisky Ring, 488 

White, E. D., 547 

White, John, 22 

Whitefield, George, 134 

Whitman, Dr. Marcus, 358, 359 

Whitney, Eli, 300 



Whittier, J. G., 328 

Wilderness campaign, 455-456 

Wilkinson, General James, 274 

William III, king of England, 106; 
reorganization of colonies, no, iii; 
creation of Board of Trade and 
Plantations, 1 13 

William and Mary College, 119 

Williams, Roger, 52, 53 

Williamsburg, Va., made capital, 117 

Wilmington, Delaware, 81 

Wilmot Proviso, 368 

Wilson, Woodrow, 547, 548, 549 

Windsor, Conn., 67, 68 

Winthrop, John, 49; letter from, 70 

Winthrop, John, Jr., 83 

Witchcraft, 121, 122 

Wolfe, James, 156 

Woman's Rights, beginning of move- 
ment, 384 

Woman's Suffrage, 550 

Women of the Confederacy, 449 

Wright, Frances, 384 

Writs of assistance, opposition to, at 
Boston, 159 

Wyeth, N. J., 357 

Wyoming, state admitted, 506 

X.Y.Z. matter, 263 

Yale, EHhu, 148 
Yamassee War, 131 
Yeamans, Sir John, 84 
Yeardley, Sir George, 32 
Yellow Tavern, battle of, 457 
York, Duke of, 85 
York town, surrender of, 209 

Zenger, Peter, 146, 147 
Zeno, Antonio and Nicola, 6 



SUPPLEMENT TO 

AN AMERICAN HISTORY 



yy 



BY 



NATHANIEL WRIGHT STEPHENSON 

PROFESSOR Of HISTORY IN THE COLLEGE OE CHARLESTON 



GINN AND COMPANY 

BOSTON • NEW YORK • CHICAGO • LONDON 
ATLANTA • DALLAS • COLUMBUS • SAN FRANCISCO 



COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY NATHANIEL WRIGHT STEPHENSON 



SIXTH PERIOD (1914- ) 

THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD 
POWER 



CHAPTER XXXII 
READJUSTMENT OF POLICIES 

770. First Administration of Woodrow Wilson. The press- 
ing questions of 1913 which seemed, so plainly, to forecast 
immediate changes in American hfe, were not destined to be 
the chief matters of President Wilson's administration. His- 
tory is full of surprises. Perhaps the greatest surprise in our 
history was the new turn given to the thoughts of the whole 
nation by the terrible events which began, in Europe, just 
about a year after President Wilson's first inauguration. From 
March, 1913, to August, 1914, he was able to concern himself 
with the problems that were under discussion when he was 
elected. Then, with the sudden opening of the War of the 
Nations, unforeseen issues sprang to Hfe and thrust those 
others aside. 

771. Domestic Legislation: 1913, 1914. During the first 
sixteen months of his administration President Wilson showed 
remarkable skill in forcing his ideas upon Congress. In 
October, 191 3, the tariff was revised and duties were low- 
ered. This was followed by the Federal Reserve Act, which 
reorganized the National Banking Laws and aimed to make 
it easier for business men to borrow money by permitting 
banks to lend it under conditions which had hitherto been 
forbidden. In January, 1914, the President submitted to 
Congress a sweeping plan for the control of trusts and the 
abolition of unfair practices in business. This plan was 



READJUSTMENT OF POLICIES iii 

worked out, later in the year, by the Federal Trade Commission 
Act and the Clayton Antitrust Act. The aim was to do for 
national business what the creation of the Interstate Com- 
merce Commission (sections 711, 754) had done for trans- 
portation.^ 

772. President Wilson and Panama. The Panama Canal 
figured in this period in two ways. It approached completion 
and the President brought about new legislation upon the 
subject of canal tolls. ^ Though the Democratic National 
Convention had declared in favor of discriminating between 
American and foreign ships using the canal, the President held 
this to be a violation of the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty (section 
752). The Panama Canal Act of 191 2 which laid tolls on for- 
eign ships but exempted American coastwise ships was now 
repealed and all ships were placed on the same footing. 

In September, 191 3, the first water was let into the canal 
locks at Gatun. In October President Wilson touched an 
electric button at Washington. A spark resulted at Panama 
causing the explosion of an immense mine which blew up the 
Gamboa Dyke, the last important obstruction in the path of 
the canal. ^ 

773. The Mexican Complication. Meanwhile serious com- 
pHcations arose with Mexico. In the last days of President 
Taft's administration a revolution overturned the government 
of Mexico and set up a dictator, General Victoriano Huerta, 
The dictator was regarded by many Americans as a mere 
usurper. President Wilson refused to recognize him. The 
followers of Huerta bitterly resented the refusal. Their ill 
treatment of American sailors at Tampico led President Wilson 
to order the dispatch of ships and soldiers to Vera Cruz. 

^ For previous history of the movement to regulate trusts and corporations, 
see sections 694, 699, 701, 714, 745, 746, 751, 754, 758. 

* See page 548, note 3. 

'The canal was opened to navigation August 14, 1914. It is estimated 
that the total cost was in the neighborhood of four hundred million dollars. 
The canal is fortified but we are bound by treaty to keep it open to all nations in 
time of war, even to our enemies. 



iv AMERICAN HISTORY 

After sharp fighting the city was taken by the Americans 
(April 22, 1 914) and for some time garrisoned by American 
troops. Our soldiers were not withdrawn until after the col- 
lapse of the Huerta government (November 23, 19 14). 

774. The " A. B. C. Diplomacy." Though Huerta, beaten 
in a civil war, resigned in July, 1914, the Mexican quarrel was 
not at an end. Two factions, one led by Venustiano Carranza, 
the other by Francisco Villa, had cooperated against Huerta. 
The Carranza faction now got control of the government and 
the Villa faction raised rebellion. Each denounced the 
United States for not taking its side, and attributed to our 
government sinister motives. There was reason to suppose 
that Latin America, generally, feared and distrusted us.^ To 
put an end to these fears, to prove that we had no secret 
designs against Mexico, President Wilson, while Huerta was 
still in power, had accepted the offer of Argentina, Brazil, 
and ChiU to attempt to reconcile the Mexican factions and 
establish amicable relations with this country. The resulting 
negotiations were jestingly styled the " A. B. C. Diplomacy." 
Nothing permanent was accomplished at that time. The next 
year, however, the Mexican problem was taken up, in con- 
ference, by Argentina, Brazil, ChiH, Uruguay, Guatemala, and 
the United States. On the advice of this conference, President 
Wilson recognized the Carranza government. 

775. The Pan-American Union. These events gave new 
prominence to the Pan-American Union. This is an official 
organization of the twenty-one American republics. Its head- 
quarters are at Washington. It was formed as far back as 
1890, but was not important until reorganized in 1906. All 
the republics contributed to its expenses in proportion to their 
population. At its head is a governing board composed of 
the American secretary of state and the diplomatic represent- 
atives, at Washington, from the other republics. So far, 
the Union is little more than a society for the promotion of 
friendship. However, because of the A. B. C. Diplomacy, 

* For previous attempts to conciliate Latin America see page 539. 



READJUSTMENT OF POLICIES v 

and the common interest of the repubhcs in the great events 
now to be narrated, the hope has arisen that here is the germ 
of a great amphictyony — Uke those of ancient Greece — for 
the maintenance of peace and good will among its members. 

776. The Monroe Doctrine as a Cause of the War of the 
Nations. The need of close cooperation among the Western 
republics came home to us through reflecting upon the 
way in which we ourselves had contributed to bring on the 
terrible War of the Nations. That is to say : during the twenty 
years previous to the war, the nations of Europe might be 
classified in two groups — the " land-rich " nations and the 
" land-poor " nations ; the former (either because of their 
European territories or their colonies) were Russia, England, 
and France ; the latter were Germany and Austria. The great 
aim of the latter was to secure land for colonization ; but there 
were only two regions fit for European settlement which were 
not already in the hands of great powers ; these were lower 
South America and the Euphrates valley. The " land-poor " 
nations seem to have hesitated, for some time, whether to 
attempt colonizing in South America or in Mesopotamia ; the 
determined attitude of the United States in maintaining the 
Monroe Doctrine ^ at length determined them to turn east- 
ward. Thus our own country was a remote cause of a 
regrouping of the powers of Europe ; and out of that re- 
grouping came the world-wide war. 

777. " Advance to the East." We must understand just 
what is meant when we say that our country indirectly caused 
a regrouping of the powers of Europe. Before the time when 
the land-poor nations — the great " Central Empires " of Ger- 
many and Austria — turned their eyes from the West to the 
East, the three land-rich nations were not in alliance ; France 
and Russia were allied but England stood aloof from both. In 
Germany now arose the cry " advance to the East." This 
meant : let Germany and Austria act together, make Turkey 
their dependency, occupy Western Asia, and build a great 

^ See page 539. 



vi AMERICAN HISTORY 

empire extending from the North Sea to the Indian Ocean. 
Part of the plan was the construction of a railroad from Con- 
stantinople to Bagdad, and beyond. 

When the other nations perceived this plan, — Russia, 
England, and France, — all took alarm. Russia had long 
coveted Constantinople : if the Central powers succeeded 
in their " advance to the East," she would lose it forever. 
England feared that the " advance to the East " would menace 
her communications with India. France, besides a long- 
standing dread of Germany, had also an ideahstic impulse. 
She was committed heart and soul to republicanism. Ger- 
many, since Bismarck, has stood for a magnificent revival 
of the belief in monarchy. A great Eastern empire under 
German leadership seemed to France to menace republicanism 
throughout the world. 

For all these reasons the three great powers which had seldom 
before cooperated, Russia, England, and France, drew together 
in the alliance known as the Triple Entente. 

778. The Ominous Summer of 1914, Panama-Pacific Ex- 
position. When the summer of 19 14 began, the Americans 
did not suspect that they were on the eve of a sweeping change 
in their relations to world-problems. There was talk of what 
would be done the following winter to carry out the Presi- 
dent's ideas upon trusts and finance. There was much specu- 
lation about Mexico. There was the revival of interest in 
Pan- Americanism. There was universal interest in the 
Panama-Pacific Exposition, which was to open the next year 
at San Francisco in celebration of the four hundredth anni- 
versary of the discovery of the Pacific by Balboa.^ But not 
until war suddenly broke upon the world, was the dark war 

^ The first spadeful of earth in preparation for the exposition was turned 
by President Taft, at San Francisco, October 14, 191 1. The city of San Fran- 
cisco officially contributed $5,000,000; the citizens unofficially subscribed 
$7,000,000; the state of California $5,000,000. Large sums were raised in 
other ways. The total cost of the exposition was about $50,000,000. After 
four years in preparation, it presented, in 1915, perhaps the most beautiful spec- 
tacle yet seen among American expositions. 



READJUSTMENT OF POLICIES vii 

cloud hanging over Europe perceived in America. Even the 
murder, by a fanatical Serbian, of the Archduke Franz Ferdi- 
nand, heir to the Austrian throne, did not awaken us to what 
was coming. Thousands of Americans in Europe continued 
to take their pleasure, — thronged the galleries, or loitered 
in high Alpine meadows, — without a thought that history 
had already entered on one of its sternest episodes. 

779. Our Attempt to stand Neutral in the War of the 
Nations. It is not in point, here, to trace out the jealous 
diplomacy which followed the murder of the Archduke. 
Austria demanded virtually that Serbia become her vassal. 
This demand was construed by the Triple Entente as the 
first step in the " advance to the East." Austria's ally, 
Germany, and her enemies, Russia, England, and France, all 
took part in the negotiations. We can now see that all 
through July the European nations were moving steadily 
toward war. On July 28, 1914, Austria declared war upon 
Serbia. Other declarations followed in quick succession. 
A great German army poured suddenly into neutral Belgium ; 
swept on into France, almost to the gates of Paris ; thence 
was driven back by the Anglo-French armies, in the battle of 
the Marne. Meanwhile Russia invaded Austria. The War 
of the Nations had begun. 

Our government at once assumed an attitude of official 
neutrality. This attitude President Wilson maintained with 
scrupulous — his enemies said with excessive — care during 
two years and a half. Meanwhile Americans contributed 
enthusiastically to an international attempt to heal the ravages 
of the war in Belgium. That unhappy country had been 
devastated. A reHef commission under the auspices of the 
American minister took charge of the distribution of aid to the 
starving population. From America contributions of suppHes 
and money were poured into the depots of the commission. 

780. First Movement for Preparedness. The suddenness 
of the breaking of the war cloud shocked Americans into 
a realization of the defenselessness of their own country. 



viii AMERICAN HISTORY 

Military men had long been endeavoring to rouse us to an ap- 
preciation of how defenseless we were. General Homer Lea, 
in a book called " The Valor of Ignorance," had labored in vain 
to persuade us that a sudden attack by any great power might 
humble us to the dust. But we would not hsten. Now, 
the country began to Usten. In the autumn of 1914 there 
sprang up, both in Congress and throughout the country, a 
movement for an enlarged army system. One of its active 
leaders was ex-President Roosevelt. The movement was 
checked by the opposition of President Wilson, who in his 
speech at the opening of Congress pronounced it unnecessary. 

781. The Issue of the Continuous Voyage. With 191 5 our 
country drifted into a tangle of negotiations which involved it, 
now this way, now that, with both belligerents. The sea, and 
the right to use the sea, was the bone of contention. To 
understand what followed, we must revert to our own expe- 
rience in the War of Secession ^ because it was a principle laid 
down in that war, by the Supreme Court of the United States, 
which we were now obliged to observe — often to our own incon- 
venience. This was what is known in international law as the 
principle of the continuous voyage : that is, if goods in time 
of war are shipped from one neutral to another, with a view 
to being sent on from the second neutral to a belUgerent, they 
are considered as making a " continuous voyage," no matter 
how many times they change hands, and are Uable to cap- 
ture from the moment they leave their home port. This 
principle was asserted by the Supreme Court in four celebrated 
cases during our own great war. Under it American cruisers 
seized British merchantmen and confiscated their cargoes 
while they were sailing between the British port of Liverpool 
and the British port of Nassau, in the Bahamas. When the 
owners complained to the British government, the latter 
sustained the American government. 

The same situation now arose, but with the positions 
reversed. Our ships carried merchandise to neutral countries, 

* For foreign relations in the war see page 436. 



READJUSTMENT OF POLICIES ix 

like Holland, to be sent on to the Central Empires. England 
claimed the right to deal with them as we had dealt with the 
British ships in 1864. Our government had to abide by its own 
precedents. Consequently many American ships were searched 
by British cruisers and in some cases their cargoes were con- 
demned. This caused annoyance to trade, vexatious delays, 
irritation, and in some quarters bad feehng. 

782. The Issue of Submarine Warfare. Germany seems 
never to have appreciated the obUgation of this country to 
abide by its own precedents. The Germans could see in our 
course nothing but weakness or dupHcity. This is, in part, the 
explanation of their attitude when, early in 191 5, Washington 
and Berhn began a debate upon the rights of submarines. 
It grew out of a German decree proclaiming a " war zone " 
around the British Isles and warning neutrals that belHgerent 
ships met by submarines in those waters would be sunk without 
notice. Neutrals were warned to avoid the designated waters. 

The United States considered this decree a defiance of inter- 
national law. Our government held it to be settled interna- 
tional law that a suspected ship must be examined — " visited 
and searched " — and that if it proved to be liable to destruc- 
tion, arrangements must be made for the safety of the passengers 
and crew. This being the official American view, President 
Wilson notified Germany (February 10, 191 5) that in case 
Americans were lost on a ship sunk without warning, he would 
hold the German government to " strict accountabiUty." 

783. The Lusitania Case. Resignation of Mr. Bryan. On 
May 7, 191 5, the great liner Lusitania, one of the largest 
ships on the seas, was approaching Ireland, from New York. 
Suddenly, a German submarine rose from the waters and with- 
out warning attacked the Lusitania with torpedoes. The 
liner sank with a loss of 785 lives, among them those of 124 
Americans. President Wilson promptly demanded satisfac- 
tion. The tone of his note was such that, for a moment, war 
seemed at hand. So near did it seem that Mr. Bryan could 
not find it in his heart to continue secretary of state. He 



X AMERICAN HISTORY 

resigned. His successor in the State Department was Robert 
J. Lansing, who had made his reputation as the department's 
legal adviser. 

784. The Sussex Case. There ensued many months of 
diplomatic correspondence. Other Americans lost their Hves 
through the activities of the submarines. At last, on 
March 24, 1916, the channel steamer Sussex, with Americans 
on board, was sunk without warning. On April 18, President 
Wilson sent to Germany his " Sussex note." It reminded 
the Imperial government of his many protests against sinking 
ships without providing for passengers and crew ; asserted 
that it was impossible to carry out Germany's plan of sub- 
marine warfare without violating the laws of nations and of 
humanity ; and warned Germany that if she persisted in this 
course, diplomatic relations between Washington and Berlin 
would be broken off. 

This note led to the cessation for some nine months of the 
more extreme forms of submarine warfare. Germany at- 
tempted, indeed, to secure a promise that President Wilson 
would induce England to relax her blockade of the German 
coasts. But the President stood firm for the idea that he 
was demanding a right, and refused to mix up his dealings 
with the two countries. Germany then announced her inten- 
tion to comply with his demands, though reserving full liberty 
to reconsider the matter whenever she thought best. Little 
was heard of the submarine issue from May 4, 191 6, to Feb- 
ruary I, 191 7. At the latter date, as we shall see, it was 
suddenly and startUngly revived. 

785. The Munitions Issue. Meanwhile the United States 
had taken a position with regard to another international 
question. This was the munitions issue. It was forced upon 
us by the action of Austria, demanding that the American 
munitions makers be forbidden to sell arms to the Entente. 
Here, again, the action of the United States must be seen in the 
light of our own experience during the War of Secession. That 
war caught both sides unprepared. What happened to the 



READJUSTMENT OF POLICIES xi 

Federal government during the first year of war is conclusive 
evidence of the importance to unprepared nations of free trade 
in munitions. The Federal government, in spite of every 
effort, could buy in America only 30,000 rifles. In Europe it 
bought 720,000 rifles. Remembering such incidents in our 
own history, ex-President Taft and others protested that the 
right of trade in munitions was essential to the safety of the 
country. We could not prohibit it without taking the risk 
of being caught ourselves in another such situation as that 
of 1 86 1. Secretary Lansing returned a dispatch to Austria 
(191 5) defending the freedom of the munitions trade. 

786. Further Agitation for Preparedness. What underlay 
our insistence on the right to buy and sell arms, underlay also 
avast amount of discussion with regard to the army, in 191 5 
and 1916. Almost universal was the admission that we were 
in a very bad way and that something ought to be done. 
Many remedies were suggested, not excepting the adoption 
of universal, compulsory military service. But it seemed 
impossible to get a general agreement upon any plan. The 
President wanted one thing ; the secretary of war wanted 
another; Congress something else. Early in 1916 the secre- 
tary of war, Lindley M. Garrison, resigned in protest. 

787. The Pursuit of Villa. Our inadequate military system 
revealed its weakness in 1 916, when the government attempted 
to punish the Mexican, Villa, for atrocious raids into American 
territory, and for the killing of American citizens. Militia 
were called into service from every state. An army invaded 
Mexico. There were a number of small but fierce engage- 
ments. But Villa was not caught. He disappeared into the 
wilds of the Mexican mountains. Thereupon Carranza de- 
manded the withdrawal of the American troops. Negotia- 
tions resulted in a joint commission that provided for the 
peace of the border (November 24), and our troops were 
withdrawn. 

788. The Election of 1916. In the political campaign of 
1916 the only real issue appeared to be confidence, or lack of 



xii AMERICAN HISTORY 

confidence, in President Wilson. The Republicans nominated 
Charles E. Hughes, of the Supreme bench, who had made a 
great name as a fearless executive when governor of New 
York. The Progressives spUt. A large faction, led by ex- 
President Roosevelt, joined the Republicans. Others sup- 
ported President Wilson. The President's \'ictory, in Novem- 
ber, has generally been attributed to two things — his per- 
sonal popularity, and his prevention of a general railroad 
strike in the summer of 1916. 

The various unions of trainmen had united in demanding 
an eight-hour work day. They threatened to tie up the whole 
transportation system of the country, — starve all the great 
cities, — if the demand was refused. The railway managers 
insisted that the demand was unfair, that the eight-hour 
claim was a subterfuge, and that what was really aimed at 
was an unjustifiable increase in wages. The President under- 
took to mediate. So grave was the situation that when the 
men would not give way, he decided to take their side rather 
than permit the national strike. Congress passed the Adam- 
son Law which virtually secured them in their demands.^ 

789. The Danish Islands. Something which took place, 
almost unnoticed, in January, 1916, would have seemed a 
great event in less troublesome times. Denmark sold us for 
$25,000,000 the Danish West Indies. They contain one 
of the finest harbors in the Caribbean Sea, and are immensely 
desirable as a naval base. 

790. The Peace Plan of 1917. In January, 191 7, the Presi- 
dent surprised Congress by addressing it on the subject of 
universal peace. Shortly before then, he had communicated 
to the warring powers an inquiry with regard to possible terms 
of peace. The replies did not seem to bring peace any nearer. 
In his address he reviewed the correspondence, stated his hope 
for a generous peace doing justice to the needs of all, and then 
outlined a plan for a sort of universal federation, to be set up 
after this war with a view to preventing similar wars in the 

^ Compare President Roosevelt's course in the anthracite strike, page 532. 



READJUSTMENT OF POLICIES xiii 

future. Four hundred years before, the great French king, 
Henry IV, made a somewhat similar proposition to Elizabeth 
of England and other European sovereigns. Though poets 
and philosophers, notably the great German, Immanuel Kant, 
have advocated " the parliament of man, the federation of 
the world," it had received no such formal sanction, from a 
great ruler, since the days of Henry IV, as was given it by 
President Wilson. 

791. The " Prohibited Zone." However, those Americans 
who fancied that their country had solved its problems with 
regard to the War of the Nations, were destined to receive a 
great shock. On January 31, 1917, the German ambassador. 
Count von Bernstorff, handed Secretary Lansing an official 
note. It informed the United States that, beginning on the 
following day, German submarines would sink without warn- 
ing any merchant ship bound to, or from, the ports of England 
or France. A " prohibited zone " was marked out bordering 
England, Holland, France, and including parts of the Mediter- 
ranean. All neutrals were warned not to allow their ships 
to enter this area. A slight exception was made in the case 
of the United States. We were to be allowed to send one ship 
a week, on a prescribed course, to England. 

792. The Break with Germany. President Wilson's reply 
was the dismissal of the German ambassador. At the same 
moment, on February 3, Secretary Lansing sent Count von 
Bernstorff his passport and President Wilson appeared before 
Congress to explain his policy. After reviewing the long con- 
tention over submarines, he informed Congress of the dis- 
missal of Count von Bernstorff. " This government has no 
alternative," said he, " but to take the course which in its 
note of the i8th of April it announced that it would take " 
if unrestricted submarine warfare did not cease. 

The President's action was met almost universally by the 
assurance that whatever happened the country would stand 
behind him. All the governors of the states telegraphed 
assurance of support. Naturally, there was sympathy with 



xiv AMERICAN HISTORY 

those Americans of German descent who could not but be 
unhappy over the prospect. A notable feature of the occa- 
sion was their prompt expression of loyalty. The German- 
American press, almost without exception, though hoping 
that the break would soon be healed, declared its readiness 
to stand by the President, wh&,tever happened. The Senate 
endorsed his action by a vote of 78 to 5. 

793. The Scheme to dismember the Country. The Senate 
Filibuster. During February, American business was severely 
hampered because many ships lay at their docks afraid to go to 
sea. With the President's sanction, bills were introduced into 
Congress to authorize the government to supply these ships with 
cannon and gunners as defense against submarines. The plan 
was opposed by a small but determined group in Congress. 

While Congress deUberated, the President made public 
(February 28) an intercepted dispatch from the German 
foreign secretary to the German ambassador in Mexico, 
who was directed, in case the United States declared war upon 
Germany, to " propose an alliance on the following basis with 
Mexico ; . . . That we shall give general financial support 
and it is understood that Mexico is to reconquer the lost 
territory in New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona." Japan was 
to be invited to join the alliance.^ Four days afterward, the 
American newspapers informed the country that Dr. Alfred 
Zimmerman, the German foreign secretary, acknowledged the 
authenticity of the intercepted dispatch. 

The publication of the dispatch had caused intense excite- 
ment. The Senate had taken up with renewed zeal the 
President's request for increased authority. He wished not 
only to arm ships but to be free to use the military forces, 
during the coming adjournment of Congress, in any way that 
occasion might demand. Nine tenths of both Houses were 
with him. 

' Japan as an ally of England was at war with Germany. The Japanese 
government promptly made a declaration of friendship toward the United 
States. 



READJUSTMENT OF POLICIES xv 

And now occurred perhaps the most singular case of " ob- 
struction " in our history. The Senate had no rule which 
permitted the limiting of debate. The session would come 
to an end on March 4. A little group of obstructionists 
determined to " iihbuster " — that is, keep up discussion until 
the session closed — and thus kill the bill by preventing a vote 
on it. So great was the indignation against the filibusterers 
that party Hnes disappeared. Both Republicans and Demo- 
crats strove to down the opposition and bring the bill to a 
vote. But they were unsuccessful. Twelve men had blocked 
the whole Senate by insisting on their right, under the Senate 
rules, to talk indefinitely. The hour for adjournment came 
without a vote on the bill to arm the ships. 

794. Last Word of President Wilson's First Term. The 
President immediately gave out a statement describing the 
Senate as " the only legislative body in the world that cannot 
act when its majority is ready for action." He described the 
situation of the country as "a crisis fraught with more 
subtle and far reaching danger than any other the government 
has known, in the whole liistory of its international relations." 

795. The Change in American Policy. We miss the signifi- 
cance of these four stirring years if we do not see that the 
American people, while hardly conscious what was taking 
place, had passed through a complete change in their relations 
with Europe. As late as 191 3, they still beHeved that the west- 
ern hemisphere .and the eastern were separate worlds. The War 
of the Nations opened their eyes. The first effect of that war, 
in America, was a ruinous collapse of prices. Cotton, espe- 
cially, sank to next to nothing. It rose, later, to a price all but 
incredible, only to go down again with a suddenness that caused 
financial disaster. Every fluctuation of the war, every rumor 
of peace, had its effect on American business. Whole lines of 
business disappeared and new ones sprang into existence. 
The cost of hving rapidly increased. 

796. War with Germany. The American people had 
reached a crisis more momentous than any they had faced 



xvi MIERICAN HISTORY 

since 1861. We must not fail to understand the issue. It 
was nothing less than our right to act as an independent, sover- 
eign power, in our dealings with the rest of the world. As 
long as we remain independent, we need ask no one's per- 
mission for our citizens to exercise, under international law, 
these rights: (i) to sail with immunity as passengers on 
merchant ships of belligerent countries (sections 782-783) ; 
(2) to trade in munitions without interference from their own 
government (section 785) ; (3) to sail where they choose on 
the high seas, subject only to the recognized restrictions of 
international law (sections 781, 782). Of these three, Ger- 
many denounced us for not giving up the second, and com- 
manded us, purely in her own interest, to give up altogether 
the first and third. In other words, she proposed to degrade 
us to the position of a dependent state that dared not exercise 
its sovereign rights, but should wait upon the pleasure of the 
Emperor at Berlin. This demand brought the whole nation 
to its feet ready to fight for its independence. 

Furthermore, in the course of the war Americans, gradually 
but very generally, had come to regard it as at bottom 
a struggle between monarchy and democracy for the control 
of the world. This idea was greatly emphasized by an event 
of March, 191 7, which is likely to prove the greatest single 
event since the French Revolution. The people of Russia 
rose against the Romanoff dynasty, compelled the Czar to 
abdicate, and set about forming a republic. Their motive, in 
part, was the belief that the ruling class in Russia secretly 
sympathized with Germany and was afraid that the defeat of 
monarchial Germany (section 777) would be followed by 
the downfall of the monarchy in Russia. The American 
people sympathized with the Russian people. Our govern- 
ment was the first to recognize the new republic. 

In this month of crisis, as in the previous month, Germany 
carried out her threat to wage submarine war without re- 
straint. German submarines sank ships of all sorts wherever 
met in the " prohibited zone " — ships of belligerents and 



READJUSTMENT OF POLICIES xvii 

ships of neutrals; trading ships, hospital ships, even relief 
ships carrying food to the starving Belgians (section 779). 
Among these were several flying the American flag. Though, 
in some cases, the crews escaped in their boats, a number of 
American sailors lost their lives. 

Early in the month. President Wilson called Congress to 
meet in special session in April. About the same time, the 
attorney-general advised the President that he might arm 
merchant ships, under an old law that had been overlooked, 
without waiting for further action by Congress. On March 
14, the President announced his intention to do so, and the 
arming of ships at once began. The day Congress met 
(April 3) news was received that an armed American ship, 
the Aztec, had been sunk by the Germans. 

In his speech to Congress the President denounced " the 
Prussian Autocracy " as a government that had lost its sense 
of right and wrong, that had undertaken to wage war against 
all mankind. He insisted that our quarrel was not with the 
German people but with their despotic rulers. Speaking of 
the revolution in Russia, he described the world war as a 
gigantic struggle between democracy and absolutism. After 
reviewing the indignities our country had endured in the vain 
hope of preserving peace, he called upon Congress to declare 
that the Imperial German Government was making war on 
the government and people of the United States, to provide 
for raising an army of 500,000 men, and to authorize him to 
prosecute the war in conjunction with the other free peoples 
that were battling against the tyranny of the Hohenzollerns. 

A joint resolution passed by overwhelming majorities — 
in the Senate, April 5, in the House April 6, — declared that 
the Imperial German Government and the United States were 
at war. 

Selections from the Sources. There are various annual publications 
that are valuable, such as the Statesman's Yearbook, International Year 
Book, and the admirable World Almanac which costs only thirty-five 
cents. Among magazines which should be mentioned are the World's 



xviii AMERICAN HISTORY 

Work, Review of Revie^vs, the Outlook, the Independent, the Literary 
Digest, Current Opinion, and Current History. AH these make a specialty 
of contemporaneous events, month by month. Documentary history of 
the questions of blockade, continuous voyage, and contraband (munitions, 
etc.) will be found in Moore, Digest of International Law (see Index). 

Secondary Accounts. It is too early for satisfactory secondary ac- 
counts. The numerous critical articles found in the publications named 
under Sources should not be taken as definitive history. But in many 
cases they are very suggestive. 

Topics for Special Reports, i. The Federal Reserve Act. 2. Re- 
cent wars in ^Ic.xico. 3. Commercial Progress of South America. 
4. Recent European Alliances. 5. Continuous Voyage. 6. The Law of 
Contraband. 7. Unpreparedness in the War of Secession. (See official 
Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series III, Volume I 
and Series IV, Volume I.) 8. The Danish West Indies. 9. Our case 
against Germany. 



CHAPTER XXXIII 

THE WORLD AT WAR 

797. America's Response to the German Challenge : The 
New Army. Never has a peaceful nation transformed itself 
more suddenly, more completely into a military nation than 
did the United States in 191 7. A passion of patriotic service 
swept the country. The first of many stirring evidences of 
this spirit was the universal acclaim of a national conscription 
act signed by the President May 18, 191 7. On one day, under 
this law, every male citizen between the ages of twenty-one 
and thirty-one was enrolled in the national forces, which were 
increased that day by ten million men. In this " selective 
draft," as it was called, each man was assigned a number 
drawn by lot. Subsequently, the men were called to the 
colors in the order of their numbers as occasion demanded. 

Enormous camps of instruction sprang up as if at the com- 
mand of a wizard. These were not the old-style tented camps 
of tradition. They were cities of streets, with houses, hos- 
pitals, huge administrative buildings, and a population of 
forty or fifty thousand men. To equip this gigantic new army, 
all the industrial resources of the country were pressed into 
service.^ Fortunately, there were already many great 
plants that had adapted themselves to the production of 
munitions, and had worked at high speed supplying England 
and France during the early part of the war. Meanwhile 
England and France had built new plants of their own. Thus 
the output of our own workshops could now be absorbed by 
our own army without imperiling our Allies. In all this 
immense endeavor there was enthusiastic cooperation with 

1 See " America's Munitions 1917-1918 " (report of the Director of Munitions), 
Government Printing Office. 



XX AMERICAN HISTORY 

the government. The need of an improved light engine for 
aircraft led to a conference of engineers representing all the 
most successful makers of automobiles. Their combined 
experience was expressed in a design that was named the 
Liberty Motor.^ 

798. Civilian Organizations behind the Army. The United 
States profited in many ways by the experience of England and 
France since 1914. The chief lesson of that experience was 
the necessity to combine all the energies of the nation in just 
one all-engrossing purpose — the maintenance of the army. 
Practically the entire nation realized this obligation. Great 
and small, rich and poor — all but a few disloyals who secretly 
wished our enemies to succeed — conceived of themselves, their 
business, their abilities as part of the national military estab- 
lishment. " What can I do to help win the war? " was the 
one universal question. It was answered in a thousand ways. 
People of means gave their services as government workers 
without pay. Among these were many of the most noted 
experts in many lines of endeavor. People who despite the 
nation's peril must still work for the support of their families 
found innumerable things to do, in extra hours, sharing the 
gigantic task of caring for the army. Everywhere local 
societies were formed for the purpose of raising funds, or 
making army clothes, or caring for the welfare of the men in 
hospitals or when off duty. Women knitted socks for the 
army. They carried their knitting around with them and 

* Inventions played a great part in this war. The first successes of the 
Germans were due in part to their movable heavy guns whose existence had been 
kept a secret. Later they invented a " super gun " which could fire an incredible 
distance but did not prove to be altogether practical. The French field piece, 
the "75-millimetre gun" was a masterstroke. Most important of all was the 
British invention nicknamed " the tank." It was an armored motor car, based 
on the idea of the American farm tractor. For crashing through barbed wire 
entanglements and scattering machine gunners, it was invaluable. The Germans 
introduced the use of poisonous gas, which compelled the Allies to invent gas 
masks. Finally, the British invented a new sort of mine, the "depth charge," 
which was the main weapon of the destroyers against the submarine. (See 
section 803.) 



THE WORLD AT WAR xxi 

worked at it in every odd minute. Tliere was a time when you 
could hardly go into a street car without seeing a row of women 
busy with their long steel needles. The Red Cross Society 
formed Chapters in every town and village. These Chapters 
kept their members at work making surgical dressings and 
preparing countless articles for the use of the army medical 
service. Women were conspicuous in all these undertakings. 
They also formed associations for service as volunteer auto- 
mobile drivers. The government recognized their value by 
enrolling them as part of the national forces. Such organi- 
zations as the Motor Corps of America and the National League 
for Women's Service trained their members as ambulance 
drivers, and formed an invaluable adjunct to the great military 
hospitals, especially when, in the heavy fighting of 1918, 
shiploads of wounded came home from France.^ 

799. The Money for the War. Behind all these stirring 
activities lay the grim and cheerless duty to pay for the war. 
While the young men of the nation were being enrolled in the 
army, subscriptions began for the first of four Liberty Loans. 
The government asked, in this first loan, for two billion 
dollars. During May and June, 191 7, the nation over- 
subscribed the loan by a billion. The second Liberty Loan 
in the autumn of 191 7 was similarly oversubscribed. The 
third and fourth loans — the third for three billion, the 
fourth for six — in 1918 demonstrated in the same way that 
the patriotism of the country, measured in dollars and cents, 
ran ahead of the demands of the government. The four 
loans called for fourteen billions ; eighteen billions were offered. 

The loans were supplemented by War Savings Stamps, 
which were virtually loans in very small sums. The smallest 
War Savings Stamp had a value of twenty-five cents. Two 

^ These organizations were also of the greatest value during the epidemic of 
influenza which began in the autumn of igi8 and continued through the winter. 
As a large proportion both of nurses and doctors had gone with the army to 
France the American situation became extremely grave. The women's motor 
corps took up the work of bringing stricken and helpless victims of influenza 
to the hospitals. 



xxii AMERICAN HISTORY 

billion dollars in these stamps were loaned to the govern- 
ment in 1 91 8. 

800. Privations. In a great number of ways, some direct, 
some indirect, the nation was called upon to submit to pri- 
vation in order to carry the burden of this enormous war. 
Food was the first subject of concern. A singular fatality was 
the relative failure of the cereal crops in 191 7. To meet the 
needs of all the Allied countries, there was utmost need of 
economy and cooperation. In America a Food Commission 
was created and a Food Administrator appointed. A system 
of rationing was established, especially in the use of flour and 
sugar. Bakers were required to mix other flours with wheat 
flour in making bread. 

Quite as serious was the problem, of fuel. The Germans 
were using the coal mines seized from the French and Belgians. 
To make up for this loss to our great continental Ally, to pro- 
vide transportation for men and supplies, to keep the vast 
munition plants going at full speed, there was needed from 
America a vast quantity of fuel. A Fuel Administrator 
regulated the distribution. Industries necessary to the war 
were given full supply ; others were reduced. All unnecessary 
use of fuel and the products of fuel, light and power, were 
forbidden. Ornamental electric signs disappeared. Street 
cars were required to make less frequent stops. During the 
winter of 1917-1918, one day each week was a " heatless day," 
when heat was shut off in many classes of buildings. Similarly, 
there were " gaslcss Sundays," when no automobiles were used 
for private purposes. To lessen the use of artificial light, 
Congress adopted a "daylight saving" plan, which was already 
in use abroad and had been under discussion here. From the 
last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October all clocks 
were required to be set forward one hour. 

The use of intoxicating liquors was very generally given up 
" for the duration of the war," ' so as to encourage temperance 

' At the same time the prohibition movement acquired new momentum. 
There was an increase of interest in the proposed amendment to the National 



THE WORLD AT WAR xxiii 

among the soldiers and also to release the maximum quantity 
of grain for food and of alcohol for use in munition making. 

801. Nationalization of Business. The same cheerful 
acceptance of whatever burden the war imposed characterized 
American business. Though no people had had more of 
traditional hostility to governmental control of business, the 
Americans made no complaint when, in December, 191 7, the 
President took possession of the railways, gave orders for a 
single consohdated management of them all, and appointed 
the secretary of the treasury, William G. McAdoo, director 
general. 

Subsequently, the government also took over, for the dura- 
tion of the war, the telephone and telegraph lines. These 
were placed under the control of the postmaster general. 

Among a number of boards and commissions, all intended to 
make the production of war necessities as swift and economical 
as possible, none was more notable than the United States 
Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation, commonly 
called the " Shipping Board." Its purpose was to rush 
through the construction of ships, great numbers of which 
were now in instant demand. Partly by utilizing the existing 
shipyards in all parts of the country, partly by building new 
yards, the Board succeeded in turning out ships with wonderful 
rapidity.' And yet, when the final crisis arrived in the 
spring of the next year, — so terrible and unforeseen were the 
events of 191 7! — American shipping was inadequate for 
carrying our reenforcements to France. For a moment it 
looked as if the war would be lost through this inadequacy. 

802. The German Plan of 1917. This situation was exactly 
what the Germans had carefully schemed to bring about. 
They had attacked us because they wanted to shift the theater 

Constitution, making the manufacture of alcoholic beverages illegal. Pro- 
posed in 191 7, it was ratified by a sufficient number of states in 1919 to go into 
force in 1920. 

1 The American navy was also increased by the confiscation of German 
ships interned in American waters. 



xxiv AMERICAN HISTORY 

of their submarine warfare (sections 782, 791) from the British 
territorial waters to the Atlantic. There were from the 
beginning two vital points in the system of allied communi- 
cation. One was the British Channel. Across that narrow 
sea, in the course of the war, the British na\'y moved twenty 
million men. For a long time Germany cherished the hope 
that her submarines would cut this floating bridge between 
England and France. Her attempt was a total failure. As 
long as there was hope of separating England and France, 
Germany preferred to have the United States neutral in order 
to be able to resume trade with us promptly when she had 
crushed the Allies. The moment she gave up hope of cutting 
her way through the Channel, she determined on war with 
the United States. That is, she aimed at the other vital 
point in the Allied communications. Across the Atlantic 
came the food and a large part of the munitions that made 
possible the heroic battle of the French and British lines. 
England's fleet, for all its vastness, was unable to guard the 
" sea-lanes " followed by the supply ships across the ocean. 
There was absolute need for the British navy to discharge 
three other obligations: (i) to keep the powerful German 
battle fleet shut up in its home port ; (2) to keep the Channel 
absolutely safe for Allied transports and hospital ships ; 
(3) to keep the Mediterranean free of submarines and thus 
prevent a separation of the eastern from the western Allied 
armies, as well as to prevent the blockade and starvation of 
Italy. 

Doing all this, England had left only fifteen destroyers. 
These were the whole force she could use for the enormous 
task of policing the Atlantic. Under international law, 
American ships, being neutrals (sections 781-784), did not 
need protection. Therefore, the cynical German government 
made war on the United States, seeking a free hand to destroy 
our ships. In April, 191 7, the Germans were perfectly con- 
fident that their submarines could do this ; that our entrance 
into the war would be followed by the swift obliteration of 



THE WORLD AT WAR xxv 

our commerce ; that England would be quickly starved out ; 
that the German conquest of the world had begun in earnest. 

803. The Battle of the Atlantic. It was a piece of interna- 
tional good fortune that one of the clearest-sighted American 
seamen, Admiral W. S. Sims, was sent to England imme- 
diately' upon our entrance into the war. He perceived at 
once the gravity of the situation. His urgent dispatches to 
Washington were, perhaps, the cause of a line of policy 
that characterized the American government in all its subse- 
quent course. " I early took the stand," says Admiral 
Sims, " that our forces should be considered chiefly in the light 
of reenforcements to the Allied navies, and that, ignoring all 
question of national pride and even what at first might super- 
ficially seem to be national interest, we should exert such 
ofi"ensive power as we possessed in the way that would best 
assist the AlHes in defeating the submarine." 

Hitherto there had not been sufficient unity of action among 
the Allies. Broadly speaking, each nation had conducted its 
own war, as it thought best. The United States led the way 
in demanding closer cooperation. The first fruit of this new 
policy was the formation of a joint Anglo-American fleet of 
destroyers, with its base at Queenstown, for an ocean-wide 
battle with the submarines. During the summer of 191 7 — 
in many respects the darkest summer of the war — the most 
crucial event was the slow, tremendous Battle of the Atlantic. 

804. The Grand Fleet. However, the destroyers, for all 
their immense importance, were not the whole — not even the 
backbone — of the Alhed naval defense. Throughout the 
war, a large fleet of battleships — the Grand Fleet, it was 
called — lay somewhere off the British coast, ready at any 
moment to strike the German battle fleet, should it venture 
out to sea. Twice, before our entrance into the war, the 
Germans had attacked the Grand Fleet, and had been driven 
back to their home ports. Though stronger than the German 
fleet, the Grand Fleet was not overwhelmingly so. How best 
to reenforce it by an American contingent was one of the 



xxvi AMERICAN HISTORY 

first thoughts of the American navy. For a time, this could 
not be done. The super-dreadnaughts burn oil. In 191 7 
there was a dangerous shortage in the supply of fuel oil. The 
Grand Fleet, unreenforced, was barely able to supply itself 
with oil. Under the conditions of the moment, our ships 
could not have been fueled in European waters. Not until 
the oil situation had improved could Admiral Hugh Rodman 
join the Grand Fleet with an American battle squadron. 
Admiral Rodman's reenforcement made the Grand Fleet 
overwhelmingly powerful. 

805. The American Expeditionary Force. Meanwhile, 
when the Battle of the Atlantic had scarcely begun, such 
veterans as we had were hurried to France. June 26, 191 7, 
is a memorable day in American history. On that day, for 
the first time, troops of the United States set foot on the 
continent of Europe, as belligerents. Of this American 
Expeditionary Force, the commander was General John J. 
Pershing. It was General Pershing who expressed the 
American sentiment toward France, as he stood at the tomb 
of that brilliant Frenchman, who was once a member of the 
American army — " Lafayette, we are here." 

806. The Collapse of Russia. In the early days of the 
Battle of the Atlantic, before there was any certainty that 
it would be won, all the Allied nations were staggered by the 
news from Russia. The Revolution (section 796) took a 
startling turn that threatened to upset all the Allied plans. 
In those plans, an essential factor was the Russian army, by 
which a great part of the German army was held on the Eastern 
battle front. The wise and temperate leaders of the Revolu- 
tion, in its first stage, were eager to see Russia do her full share 
in crushing the German autocracy. But the Revolution now 
passed, with bewildering suddenness, into a second stage. 
New leaders appeared. New ideas were put forth. Extreme 
socialists began preaching the doctrine of peace-at-any-price. 
A violent party of ultra-extremists, the Bolsheviki, denounced 
the revolutionary government as no better than the old 



THE WORLD AT WAR xxvii 

imperial government, clamored for the abolition of all law, of 
all authority, for the nationalization of property, and for 
immediate peace. It is possible that these fanatics believed 
all they said. But it is known to-day that some, at least, of 
their leaders were in collusion with the Germans, and that 
their movement was financed by German money. The ra- 
pidity with which the ideas of the Bolsheviki made their way 
through the Russian army astounded the world. Almost 
before the danger was realized, the Russian army had lost its 
striking force. To be sure, Alexander Kerensky, one of the 
new leaders who was not a Bolshevist, seemed for a moment 
about to bring the Revolution back to sanity. For a moment, 
he restored the fighting spirit in the army. But he was not 
equal to his terrible opportunity ; his hold on the army did not 
last ; before the end of the summer the Russians were giving 
up the fight. Two sinister figures, Nicolai Lenin and Leon 
Trotzky, who are supposed to have been secret agents of Ger- 
many, now emerged as leaders of the Bolsheviki. They 
headed a rebelHon, drove Kerensky from power, and declared 
for an immediate peace. 

807. The " Peace Drive " of 1917. Germany, making 
every effort to corrupt the Russian Revolutionaries, saw 
quicker than the Allies that the latter part of 191 7 might 
prove a turning point — one of those " psychological 
moments " when men pass through changes of heart. There- 
upon she began what was known as the " peace drive." She 
meant to use the dismay created by the collapse of Russia as 
a means to intimidating the Allies into negotiating peace. 
She had not given up hope of getting aid from that small 
group of American visionaries who thought a shameful peace 
more honorable than a valiant war, who were willing to play 
into the hands of the still smaller group of American disloyals. 
But the United States proved a barren field for such propa- 
ganda. A prime mistake of the German sympathizers and 
the no-war fanatics was their attempt to create a peace-at- 
any-price sentiment among American workingmen. Practically 



xxviii AMERICAN HISTORY 

the whole body of American labor was impervious to the 
arguments, and scornful of the trickery that had deceived the 
Russians. Their attitude was the death of the last German 
hope in America! Their chief spokesman, Samuel Gompers, 
denounced with equal severity the Germans and the Bolshe- 
viki. 

808. The Pope's Proposal. A very different appeal for 
peace was made that same summer (August i). The Pope 
besought the warring nations to put an end to their conflict. 
In refusing to consider this appeal, President Wilson paid a 
tribute to the " generous motives that prompted it," but 
added that " our response must be based on stern facts and 
nothing else." The Pope had proposed that all nations return 
to the status quo before the war, that they should all disarm 
and settle all their differences by arbitration. President 
Wilson pronounced the proposal impractical because " we can- 
not take the word of the present rulers of Germany as a 
guarantee of anything that is to endure," and because " no 
man, no nation, could now depend on " any promises they 
might make. 

809. The Reorganization of the Allies. Autumn had now 
come. At Petrograd Lenin and Trotzky were in control. 
It was plain that they were working for Germany, that all the 
German forces in Russia would soon be released for service 
elsewhere. A new conviction took possession of all the Allies : 
they must reorganize their relations ; they must make better 
use of their resources. In all the Allied countries momentous 
changes swiftly followed. In France, for example, there was 
a change of ministry, and one of the boldest of men became 
Premier, Georges Clemenceau. When that happened (Novem- 
ber 1 8), the Austrians were conducting a great drive into Italy 
and the Italians were in full retreat. The military situation of 
the Allies seemed extremely dark. But there was not the slight- 
est wavering of their spirit. In the dreary days of the great 
Italian retreat, a momentous step was taken toward unity of 
Allied command. In conference at Repallo, representatives 



THE WORLD AT WAR xxix 

of Italy, France, and England drew up a tentative scheme for 
a Supreme War Council. A war mission from the United 
States, headed by Colonel E. M. House, was then upon the 
sea. Immediately upon their arrival, the Americans heartily 
concurred in this plan. President Wilson cabled his approval. 
Thereafter, the Allied military policy was directed by this 
Supreme Council, sitting generally at Versailles. 

810. Renewed Allied Confidence. In spite of the Russian 
collapse, in spite of the Italian disaster, in spite of the sub- 
marines, the spirit of the Americans, as of all the Allies, was 
more determined than ever. Shortly after joining the Supreme 
War Council, when all northwestern Italy was overrun and the 
conquerors had almost reached Venice, we declared war upon 
Austria (December 7, 191 7). 

In the first week of the new year President Wilson delivered 
a speech destined to become famous as " the speech of the 
Fourteen Points." He laid down fourteen propositions as a 
basis on which peace might be discussed. Several of them 
reached far out into the future, and touched the world that 
was to come at the war's end. Five dealt with immediate 
conditions in a way to serve notice to Germany of what she 
might expect. These were : Russia to be freed from German 
domination ; Belgium to be completely restored ; France to 
have complete restitution for losses both in the present war 
and in the Franco-Prussian War ; the Austrian Empire to be 
broken up ; Poland to be restored. 

So widely was the speech applauded that it may be con- 
sidered the Allied challenge to Germany at the opening of the 
fateful year 1918. 

811. The Allied Control of the Seas. A change of in- 
calculable significance had taken place since the previous 
April. The Battle of the Atlantic had been won. Gradually, 
with superb audacity, the Anglo-American Destroyer Fleet 
had mastered the submarine. They had made the Atlantic 
almost as safe for Allied ships as the Channel. The Germans, 
horrified by the reversal of their expectations, nevertheless 



XX AMERICAN HISTORY 

lad to admit the fact. As early as November, 191 7, a noted 
jerman naval critic, Captain Persius, pronounced the sub- 
narine campaign a failure. As the new year began, with 
Ulied destroyers in control of the Atlantic, with the Grand 
"leet holding the German battle fleet in its ports, the Allies 
v^ere masters of the sea. 

812. The Final Policy of the Germans. The Germans did 
lot deceive themselves as to what had happened. They saw 
hat all their boasting of a year previous was vain. Their 
lopes upon the sea were gone. To starve England was now 
mpossible. To keep American reenforcements from reaching 
"ranee was also impossible. But still Germany had one 
ast chance. Even at the close of 191 7, the Allies were doing 
hings slowly. They had not yet learned to be swift and sure 
n all their movements — as Germany was. The Americans 
vere sending over their men in driblets. Three months later, 
>n the anniversary of our entrance into the war, we had only 
ibout a quarter of a million men in France. From all this, 
jermany drew two conclusions : first, the war, now that the 
ubmarine had failed her, must be decided on land. Second, 
he must take advantage of the slowness of the movement of 
American reenforcements, gather all her strength on the 
western front, hurl it against the French and British, and crush 
)oth armies before the Americans in adequate number should 
ome to their aid. 

Of course, the possibility of such a western concentration 
vsis due to Russia ; Lenin and Trotzky, now in full control 
>f the Revolutionary Government, were brazenly serving 
Germany's ends. While the eastern German armies were 
)eing shifted to the west, the German government dictated 
erms of peace to the Russians. Though Lenin and Trotzky 
nade a great pretense of protest, they promptly demobilized 
he Russian armies, and on March 3, 1918, consented to the 
^eace of Brest-Litovsk. Russia was dismembered, and 
)ractically all her industrial and economic life was placed 
mder German domination. 



THE WORLD AT WAR xxxi 

Though the AUies knew what was happening in Russia and 
guessed what Germany was about, there was no adequate 
preparation for the blow that was impending. The Supreme 
War Council did not prove to be particularly useful. There 
was no material quickening in the movement of American 
reenforcements. At nightfall, on March 20, the Allies seemed 
still to have had no adequate realization that there was a 
possibility they might yet lose the war. 

813. March 21, 1917. By what happened in the next 
twenty-four hours, the whole Allied world was stunned, 
horrified. A tempest of artillery fire, the most terrible yet 
known, burst upon the British hne at its point of juncture with 
the French, and tore it apart as if before the lava streams of a 
volcano. Into the breaches thus made, dense masses of 
" shock " troops were poured in successive waves. By night- 
fall, March 21, parts of the British front line were gone; 
others were wavering. At these points the assailants out- 
numbered the defenders three to one. On the 2 2d, the Ger- 
man torrent of lire and steel, pouring through the gaps of the 
front, was surging onward against the British reserves. On 
the 23d the magnitude of this disaster became known through- 
out America. A gloom not to be exaggerated settled upon 
the country. But it was not the gloom of fear. The ex- 
pression heard on every side was, " If only we were there ! " 

The drive of March 21 began the battle of Picardy, one of 
the fiercest ever known. The German purpose was to capture 
Amiens, and thus separate the British and French armies. On 
the part of the Allies the battle was a miracle of defensive 
fighting. Though the British and French lines bent far back, 
surrendering precious territory to the Germans, they did not 
break. To the anxious watchers in America it was some 
consolation to know that Americans took part in the splendid 
last stand that brought the invaders to a halt a few miles 
east of Amiens (April i). The knowledge that the Americans 
were but a few thousand in a battle employing over a million, 
tilled the country with a fury to be up and doing. 



xxxii AMERICAN HISTORY 

814. Foch. There was immediate recognition of the need 
for a single supreme commander of all the AUies. General 
Pershing, like Admiral Sims, had always believed this. The 
Americans were very influential in bringing about the appoint- 
ment of Marshal Ferdinand Foch, of the French Army, as 
Allied Generalissimo. A congratulatory cablegram from 
President Wilson at once informed all the world that we 
heartily accepted him as our super-commander. General 
Pershing instantly placed at his disposal all the American 
forces in France to be used wherever, in whatever capacity, 
he thought best. 

815. The Dark Days of 1918. During three and a half 
months under the skillful leadership of this great soldier, we 
played our part in a sternly retreating defense. During 
those terrible months — perhaps the darkest days of the whole 
war — the Germans made four other terrific drives. They 
had an immense superiority in numbers. They also had the 
" interior Hnc." ' Each drive gained additional territory. 
When the last was checked in the middle of July, the Germans 
were dangerously close to Paris. 

But while the Allied line bent and retreated, it never broke. 
This one fact, that all the fury of the onslaught with superior 
numbers never quite broke the line, was the sole consolation 
of the anxious Americans during those appalling months of the 
final crisis. Meanwhile they had stirring news of their 
countrymen who had been hurried into the front line and who 
did valiant service now here, now there : at Seicheprey, in 
our first serious clash with the Germans (April 20) ; at Can- 
tigny, in a brilliant counter attack (May 28) ; at Chateau 
Thierry — the first battle of Chateau Thierry — where we 
helped materially in stopping the third German drive (June i) ; 
in an homeric combat which cleared Belleau Wood of 
Germans (June 11) and led the French government to give 
the place a new name, " The Wood of the Marine Brigade " ; 
the storming of Vaux (July i) ; above all, in our second battle 
' See Section 642. 



THE WORLD AT WAR xxxiii 

of Chateau Thierry (July 15), where with furious hand-to- 
hand fighting we did our full share " stone- walling " the last 
German rush.^ 

816. What Foch Waited For. Foch had maintained his 
long defensive battle, despite the agony of hope deferred among 
the Allied nations, because he had not reserves sufhcient to 
justify an attack. The possibility of defeating Germany 
was now a question of reserves. Where were they to come 
from? England and France had put their last men into the 
field. In England alone, sixty per cent of the male population 
were soldiers. No reserves could be called up except from 
America. The United States had two million men in camp, 
but they were four thousand miles from the field of battle, 
and the Shipping Board, though it had done well, had not done 
well enough. .It was unable to provide ships to rush these 
men to France ; and yet Foch's one chance to assume the 
offensive lay in these men, four thousand miles away. At this 
crisis, the British Merchant Marine came to the rescue. 
'' We'll find the ships," said the English, " if America will 
find the men." It was agreed. 

The largest number of Americans sent to France in any 
one month previous to March, 1918, was about 50,000. In 
April, we sent over 117,000; in May, 224,000; in June, 
276,000. On the Fourth of July appeared a statement of 
the secretary of war, Newton D. Baker, informing the Ameri- 
can people that our "First Million" was on French soil. The 
situation during the Dark Days when the Germans were 
thundering against Foch's lines, and the American War 
Department was speeding reenforcements across the Atlantic, 
was tersely summed up by the British Premier, Lloyd George, 
'' It is a race," said he, " between Field Marshal Von Hinden- 
burg and President Wilson." 

1 In all this heavy fighting great honor was won by America's "four pioneer 
divisions," the First, Second, Twenty-sixth, and Forty-second. The Third 
Division is especially associated with Chateau-Thierry. The Twenty-eighth 
was heroic in its first battle, July 15. 



xxxiv AMERICAN HISTORY 

817. Second Battle of the Marae. On the eighteenth of 
July, Foch at last had sulVicient power for a counter offensive. 
He massed his forces along the Marne, where the Germans had 
driven a huge wedge into the Allied line with its point at 
Chateau-Thierry, only 44 miles from Paris. In the attacking 
army were nearly 300,000 Americans.^ Dispensing with the 
bombardment that usually preceded a battle, — the " artillery 
preparation " in technical language, — the Franco-American 
army burst upon the Germans with such suddenness, such 
irresistible fury, that in one day the relation of the combatants 
was reversed. The Germans were thrown upon the defensive. 
The Allies were tearing gaps in their front line much as the 
Germans had done in the Allied line three and a half months 
before. Only swift retreat back toward their position of 
early March — the famous ** Hindenburg line " — saved the 
Germans of the IMarne region from destruction. 

818. The Joyful Summer. The news of this great victory 
dispelled the cloud that had hung over the Allied world since 
March. But there was no reaction to overconfidence. The 
lesson of the Dark Days had been learned. The war might 
last a long time ; the utmost power of the Allies must be 
organized and brought into action. Among many new plans 
formulated that summer, three, in America, deserve partic- 
ular attention. 

A new draft was decided upon. The age of service was 
extended to include all males from eighteen to forty-five. 
When the enrollment took place under this law (September 12) 
about fourteen million men were added to the national forces. 

Ever since the war began, all the great welfare associations 
of the country had worked zealously, looking after the good 
of the soldiers. A unique arrangement was now decided upon. 
The same principle of voluntary acceptance of unified com- 
mand — the principle that was saving the cause at the front 
— was now to be applied at home. For the first time, 

' The diN-isions engaged were I, II, III, IV, XXVI, XXVIII, XXXII, XLII, 
LVI, LXXVII. 



THE WORLD AT WAR xxxv 

Catholic and Protestant, Jew and Gentile, came together in a 
cordial cooperation under a really joint organization. Seven 
associations, representing all phases of American religious 
belief, with the hearty support of the government, undertook 
a United War Work Campaign. Their aim was to raise, by 
voluntary subscription, 120 million dollars, to be expended 
behind the lines in France. Each Association was to receive 
a stipulated percentage of the sum raised, and all were to work 
together raising it.^ The success of this cooperative movement 
was a further evidence of the basal idea for which the Allies 
stood — tolerant liberty, both for men and for nations. It 
culminated in a great meeting in New York, presided over by 
a distinguished Baptist, Charles E. Hughes, with religious 
exercises in which took part a Roman Catholic archbishop, a 
Protestant Episcopal bishop, and a Jewish rabbi. 

The third innovation of the summer of 1918 was the Student 
Army Training Corps. Under the new draft, all college 
students were enrolled in the army. The colleges, almost 
without exception, combined with the government in the 
creation of the most enormous Military Academy ever known. 
Temporarily they became part of the War Department. Their 
ordinary courses were suspended. New courses were laid out 
designed to educate officers. It was this immense body of 
college students in training to become officers that formed the 
Student Army Training Corps. 

819. " America in France." No part of our achievement 
in the war was more remarkable than the welfare work behind 
the hues in France. To keep up the morale of the soldiers 
under fire, to supply them with opportunity for recuperation 
when they were withdrawn from the firing line, was the duty 
of great numbers of workers, both men and women. Time 
and again the last person whom the soldier left behind as he 

1 The seven associations with the percentages they were to receive were as 
follows : Y. M. C. A., 58.65 ; Knights of ColumDus, 17.60; Y. W. C. A., 8.80; 
War Camp Community Service, 8. 80 ; Jewish Welfare Board, 2.05 ; American 
Library Association, 2.05; Salvation Army, 2.05, 



xxxvi AMERICAN HISTORY 

started forward to go " over the top " was some brave woman 
volunteer who had come from America to assist in keeping 
" the boys " cheerful amid the hardships of the trenches. 
The government formed recreation centers at various places 
in France and Switzerland, to which were sent the exhausted 
men who came from the inferno of the firing line, and where 
their shattered nerves were restored. The government went 
still further. It planned an educational system for the fighting 
men ; and when the war closed it was estabhshing an enormous 
army university. 

However, the most remarkable American exploit in France 
was, perhaps, the work of our service of supply, — the S. 0. S. 
France, already overburdened in caring for her own army, 
could not be expected to transport ours. American engineers, 
American architects, American railway men, American 
administrators of all sorts, were hurried to France, on our 
entrance into the war. When the time came to flood the 
country with American reenforcements, these men had con- 
structed gigantic docks so as to receive American ships without 
congesting the French docks ; they had built railroads to 
carry the extra traffic that might have jammed the existing 
roads ; in certain " training areas," they had created little 
American cities from which the American host was to be 
supplied. The impression of seriousness, efficiency, capability, 
which they made on the observant French, created a new 
respect for the American nation. " America in France," says 
Frederick Palmer, " was America at its best." 

820. Our World-wide War. Having fully committed 
itself to the idea of a unified war, the United States govern- 
ment, in the autumn of igi8,did not hesitate to send its soldiers 
to the ends of the earth. Literally, from the American point 
of view, that was what happened when American soldiers were 
dispatched to Siberia. There, some Russians who despised 
Lenin and Trotzky were fighting the Bolsheviki. To their 
aid went Allied forces, partly American. Other Russians, 
not debauched by German gold, were fighting the Bolsheviki 



THE WORLD AT WAR xxxvii 

on the Arctic coast in the vicinity of Archangel. To them, an 
Anglo-American force brought vital assistance. One of the 
dramatic events of the war was the arrival of the American 
dehverers at Archangel. 

Italy formed another distant field where, in this turn of 
the tide, American aid was a factor. French and British 
forces helped stiffen the Italian hne after the disaster of the 
previous year. Americans now contributed to the complete 
recovery of Italy's power to strike.^ 

821. The Battle of St. Mihiel. Meanwhile, our Gen- 
eralissimo was perfecting his vast design which eventually 
brought the war to an end. As a preparatory step, he assigned 
to the Americans a great undertaking.- 

The Germans were still westward of their Hindenburg Line 
and the coming death grapple would be an effort to shatter 
that line. First of all, a long German salient southeast of 
Verdun that thrust itself westward beyond the town of St. 
Mihiel must be blotted out. This salient, roughly speaking, 
formed a right-angled triangle, the base running eastward 
from St. Mihiel, the altitude north from St. Mihiel, the 
hypothenuse starting at Pont-a-Mousson and running north- 
west nearly to Verdun. Swiftly, with utmost secrecy, moving 
only by night, the bulk of the First American army was 
assembled along the southern side of the salient. Theirs was 

1 For complete understanding of our share in the war, the entire military 
history of 1917 and 1918 is desirable as a background. However, it can hardly 
be incorporated in a text of American history, but it should be considered in 
special reports. Such matters as the British occupation of Palestine, late in 

1917, the Italian attack on Austria in 1918, and the great Balkan offensive, 

1918, are of especial importance. It must not be forgotten that after March, 
191 8, all Allied movements were part of Foch's plan of campaign. 

- Hitherto the Americans had formed parts of French or British commands. 
Though many of them were retained in such commands, there was now formed 
the "First American Army," General Pershing commanding, with no superior 
but Foch himself. With General Pershing was French artillery. One evidence 
of our great difficulty in raising an army on short notice is the fact that even at 
the end of the fighting our own artillery was not equipped with American 
field guns. It used guns supplied us by the French. Some American naval 
guns moved forward by rail reached the front. 



xxxviii AMERICAN HISTORY 

to be the main attack driving straight north parallel with the 
altitude of the sahent until they reached its hypothenuse. 
When they did that, their left wing was to touch the town of 
Vigneulles-les-Hattonchattel.^ There they were to be met 
by the Twenty-sixth American Division, which was to cut into 
the salient from the top of the west side. The nut of the 
saHent was to be cracked by a pair of pincers. And with 
brilliant daring it was accomplished exactly as planned. 
The attack began in a rainy dawn, September 12. Early 
in the morning of Septemxber 13, the advance guard of the 
Twenty-sixth entered Vigneulles from the west. Only a 
little later, the advance of the First Division entered from the 
south. The Americans, victorious in their first independent 
battle on European soil, drew the new Allied line along the 
hypothenuse of that German salient which they had obhterated. 

822. The War in the Air. Among the events of the summer 
and autumn which stirred the blood of Americans, were the 
exploits of our " airmen." In this war, for the first time, the 
aviator played a leading part. The Germans used him to 
bomb peaceful towns far behind the battle line, and to destroy 
women and children. Along the front on both sides the flying 
men formed the " eyes " of the armies. That was why army 
movements had to take place at night. Part of the American 
plan of reenforcement was the construction of an enormous 
fleet of airplanes. This, however, could not be assembled upon 
the battle front before 1919. But many gallant feats were per- 
formed in British and French planes by airmen of the American 
army in iqi8. It was in one of these that the daring young 
Lieutenant Roosevelt, son of the ex-president, lost his hfe. 

823. The Battle of the Hindenburg Lme. The time had 
now come for the execution of the grand design of the 
Generalissimo — the breaking of the Hindenburg Line. That 
line was a marvelous system of fortifications stretching across 
France and Belgium from Lorraine to the North Sea. Just 

'The divisions in the main attack were the First, the Second, the Fifth, 
the Forty-second, the Eighty-second, the Eighty-ninth, the Ninetieth. 



THE WORLD AT WAR xxxix 

behind the Hne — its main artery of supply — lay the im- 
portant railway which links together Strasbourg, Metz, 
Sedan, and Lille. On the holding of this railroad the life of 
the Hindenburg Line depended. If the Line should be pene- 
trated so as to cut this railway, the portions would not be 
able to communicate except by roundabout routes far in the 
German rear. Foch's aim was to drive through the Line at 
several points, and cut the railway ; thus, he would make it 
impossible for the Germans in the different parts either to 
retreat with rapidity or be reenforced with rapidity ; he would 
then crush the parts separately. This gigantic design involved 
a whole system of battles all depending on each other, and 
forming in reality one battle — the greatest in history — in 
which were engaged some four million men. 

Foch paid the Americans the compliment of allowing us 
to open the battle. On September 26, along a front westward 
of Verdun, between the Meuse River and the Argonne Forest, 
began the largest action yet fought by an American army under 
its own command (The Battle of the Argonne). 

The same day the French struck on our left flank. The next 
day the British struck furiously in Belgium. While these 
attacks were grinding their way forward through some of the 
most terrific fighting of the war, another British attack was 
pressed in the region of Cambrai. Lastly, the supreme French 
attack struck the center of the line, in the valley of the Aisne. 

Though this battle series must be thought of as a whole, 
two episodes in it are, for Americans, inevitably, of sur- 
passing interest. In the South, our Battle of the Argonne 
was a sustained epic that gave imperishable renown to the 
American army.^ It developed into a drive straight through 
the German defenses, and on through the vital railway. On 
November 7 we entered Sedan. The American forces em- 
ployed, included twenty-one divisions, about 750,000 men. 

1 The battle opened with a great rush by these divisions — Fourth, Twenty- 
eighth, Thirty-third, Thirty-fifth, Thirty-seventh, Seventy-seventh, Seventy- 
ninth, Eightieth, Ninety-first. 



xl AMERICAN HISTORY 

However, the American army in the South, having a long 
way to go, were not the first to cut the famous Line. That 
honor fell to members of the gallant army which struck the 
Line between St. Quentin and Cambrai. Though known as 
the British Fourth Army, and mainly English, it included 
Austrahans and Americans. On September 29, a column was 
sent forward, consisting of three divisions — the Twenty- 
seventh and Thirtieth, American, with the Forty-sixth, British. 
What these men had to do is best understood by this descrip- 
tion of " The Hindenburg Line," given by the Chief of Staff 
of the Thirtieth Division. " The Hindenburg Line, at this 
point, curves in front of the Tunnel St. Quentin. This was 
considered impregnable by the Germans for the following 
reasons : The Hindenburg Line, curving west of the tunnel, 
consisted of three main trench systems protected by vast 
fields of heavy barbed-wire entanglements, skillfully placed ; 
this wire was very heavy and had been damaged very little 
by artillery fire. The dominating ground enabled them to 
bring devastating machine-gun fire on all approaches. The 
lines had been strengthened with concrete machine-gun 
implacements. It contained at this point a large number of 
dugouts, lined with mining timbers, with wooden steps leading 
down to a depth of about thirty feet, with small rooms capable 
of holding from four to six men each. In many cases these 
dugouts were wired for electric lights. The large tunnel 
through which the canal ran was of sufficient capacity to 
shelter a division. This tunnel was electrically lighted and 
filled with barges. Connecting it with the Hindenburg 
trench system were numerous tunnels. In one case a direct 
tunnel ran from the main tunnel to the basement of a large 
stone building, which the enemy used for headquarters." 

Through these complicated defenses, the Anglo-American 
assault burst its way. The breaking of the Hindenburg Line 
was begun. During the next three weeks,' it was penetrated 

' Perhaps the most furious fighting was done by the British Fourth Army, 
Americans still participating, early in October. 



THE WORLD AT WAR xli 

at several points. The vital railway was seized. Before 
the end of October, the defensive system of the Germans was 
dislocated. Foch had them at his mercy. 

824. The Armistice. In the last days of this greatest battle 
in history, the men behind the armies in Germany and Austria 
saw that their cause was lost. They began to take thought 
how they might escape destruction. Austria led the way by 
withdrawing her regiments on the French front, and asking 
for terms of peace. The withdrawal of these regiments made 
slightly easier the advance of the victorious Americans to 
Sedan. The Austrian peace overtures, addressed to President 
Wilson, were rejected. 

The German government also addressed itself to the 
American President. The Germans, who had regarded pity 
as contemptible in connection with its enemies, now cited 
" The Fourteen Points," and appealed to the American 
generosity toward enemies. The President replied in sub- 
stance, that no one could trust the German government, 
and that no terms would be granted that diminished the 
" present military supremacy " of the Allies. 

The Hohenzollern despot, whose " shining sword " was to 
have terrified mankind, now showed himself the least heroic 
figure in this awful tragedy. Abandoning his army, he fled 
across the border into neutral Holland. 

Revolution had broken out in Germany. On November ii, 
the representatives of a new government, at Foch's head- 
quarters, signed an armistice. They agreed to the surrender 
of so much war material that the German army was thereby 
made incapable of further resistance ; to the withdrawal of all 
their forces beyond the Rhine ; to the surrender of the entire 
German Fleet ; to the occupation, by the Alhes, of portions 
of the east bank of the Rhine. ^ 

1 These comprised three bridgeheads with half circles beyond, having a 
radius of 30 kilometers. The bridgehead of Coblenz with adjoining area was 
given in charge to an American army of occupation. For many months, the 
"Stars and Stripes" flew over conquered German territory along the historic 
Rhine. 



xlii AMERICAN HISTORY 

825. The Concluding Triumph. The final event of the war 
is without parallel. In the later hours of a bright moonlit 
night, the Grand Fleet left its anchorage off the coast of 
Scotland, and steamed forth into the North Sea. At eight 
o'clock, on the morning of November 21, it was drawn up in 
two lines, three miles apart, forming a majestic avenue. The 
ships flanking that avenue were all in battle trim. All of 
their mighty guns were shotted ; every gun crew was in 
position ; every commander, sweeping the horizon with his 
binoculars, was prepared to give the word to fire. They were 
expecting the vanquished German fleet, and no man knew what 
the German promise to surrender was worth. Said Admiral 
Rodman, whose American dreadnaughts formed a part of the 
waiting fleet : " There is not the slightest possibility of any 
trouble, but we are overlooking no chances." 

Presently, a little British cruiser which had been sent out to 
meet the Germans was sighted to the eastward ; then, behind 
her, in squadron after squadron, the enemy ships. On they 
came, following their pilot, — great dreadnaughts, powerful 
battle cruisers, destroyers in columns, five abreast. They 
passed along that avenue of the Allied triumph, while from the 
ships of the victors not a sound was heard. When the last 
German ship had passed, the Grand Fleet closed up behind 
them. They were conducted to the Firth of Forth, where the 
formalities of surrender were completed. The close of what 
had truly become a " World War," was this order signaled 
from the Admiral of the Grand Fleet : " The German flag 
will be hauled down at 3.57 and is not to be hoisted again 
without permission." 

826. The Peace Congress. And now arose the complicated 
problem of concluding a peace that would start the world 
over on a new basis. A Peace Congress was held at Ver- 
sailles. To it came representatives of all the Allied nations, 
all those among the free peoples that had taken part in the 
struggle for democracy against autocratic Germany. Russia, 
to be sure, was not officially represented, for Russia was still 



THE WORLD AT WAR xliii 

in the grip of Germany's henchmen, Lenin and Trotzky. 
Nevertheless, the assembly represented all the great races 
of mankind, all quarters of the globe. The Premier of France 
presided, but the hero of the hour was the President of the 
United States. 

827. Problems of the Congress. So numerous and so 
difficult were the problems of the Congress that it is im- 
possible to discuss them briefly. A great many did not 
directly involve the United States. But indirectly, they 
involved all nations. The aim of the Congress was to remove 
the causes of future war. The Fourteen Points (section 8io) 
were generally regarded as a basis on which to begin re- 
adjusting the world. The principle of national freedom for 
the subject states of our enemies was at once accepted by 
all parties. The influence of the American delegation was 
thrown in favor of a free Poland ; of a free Bohemia (now 
Czechoslovakia) ; of the gathering together of all the 
Serbian race into the new state of Jugoslavia ; of the enlarge- 
ment of Greece and Roumania so that each should include all 
its kinsmen then under other governments. Many clashes of 
interest occurred, some of which had to be compromised — 
much to the disappointment of the Americans.^ 

Nevertheless after many compromises, a treaty was drawn 
up which the American delegation was willing to sign. 

828. The Germans Sign the Treaty. Then for the first 
time, the Germans were called in. The treaty was delivered 
to them. They protested and demanded a joint discussion of 
it — which was refused. They were to accept it, or the war 
was to begin again. As the treaty involved an acknowledg- 
ment by the Germans of responsibihty for the war, the return 

1 Chief among these, from the American point of view, was the question of 
Shantung. The Chinese province of Shantung had been virtually appropriated 
by the Germans. Japan during the war drove out the Germans and claimed 
that she was entitled to all the privileges Germany had held. The traditional 
American policy is friendship with China. But the Allies before our entrance 
into the war had made a secret agreement with Japan which tied their hands, 
and in which President Wilson eventually acquiesced. (See " China, the United 
States, and the War" — World Peace Foundation, issue of July, 1919.) 



xliv AMERICAN HISTORY 

of Alsace and Lorraine to France, and the payment of heaxy 
indemnities, there was loud threatening in Germany of a 
renewal of hostihties. But it was not genuine. On May 7, 
1919, in the Hall of Mirrors, in the Palace of Versailles, — 
the hall in which the robber Prussians completed the humilia- 
tion of France forty-eight years before — the delegates of the 
Allied nations and the delegates of Germany signed the 
document which it was hoped — at least among the Allies — 
would prove the foundation of a new world. 

829. The League of Nations. Even before the treaty was 
signed strong opposition to some of its provisions had 
developed in America. To many Americans it seemed that 
some of its compromises had been unnecessary. But one 
issue immediately overshadowed all others. The treaty 
bound us to combine with our Allies in a permanent League of 
Nations,^ designed to preserve the peace of the world and 
incidentally to protect the new national governments that 
were created by the treaty. Was the time ripe for such a 
plan ? Were the American people prepared to enter any sort 
of international union? Was the particular form of union 
described in the treaty a desirable one? These questions 
were hotly discussed throughout America during the six 
months following the close of the Peace Congress.^ Fanatics 
on either side of the dispute lost all sense of propriety and 
denounced their opponents in unmeasured terms. To the 

' The arguments for and against the League, together with a clear under- 
standing of the nature of the League, should be enlarged upon in special 
reports. See bibliography at the end of the chapter. For the pro-League 
argument see also the publications of the League to Enforce Peace (130 
West 42d Street, New York City). For the anti-League argument, see chiefly 
the speeches in Congress, of Senators Lodge, Borah, and Johnson. 

^ When the treaty came before the Senate for ratification, the abstract 
question of the desirability of the League was involved in bitter partisan antag- 
onism. This hinged upon an action of the President in the late Congressional 
elections. Though, in the support of the war, the party lines for the moment 
had broken dowTi ; though Republican votes in Congress had assisted the Presi- 
dent to secure some of his most important measures, he took part in the elections 
of 1918 with an appeal to the country to return a strictly Democratic Congress. 
In spite of that appeal, the Republicans had carried the elections. 



THE WORLD AT WAR xlv 

fanatical " leaguer," the opposition to the League was all, at 
bottom, pro-German. To the fanatical " anti-leaguer," 
belief in the League was a base desire to surrender the sover- 
eignty of the United States. Among temperate people, the 
argument was, on the one hand, that the proposed League 
was a safe experiment which would almost certainly work for 
peace, and on the other hand, that it was an ill-devised scheme 
which would almost certainly fail and thus discourage further 
attempt at international union. 

The extreme opposition demanded amendments to the 
treaty that would virtually reject it. The moderate opposi- 
tion called for " reservations " that would limit the treaty by 
stating how America interpreted it. The defenders of the 
treaty were also in two groups : those who demanded un- 
conditional acceptance, and those who were willing to meet 
the moderate opponents in a statement of reservations. 

Besides President Wilson, the chief leaders of the League 
forces were Ex-President Taft and President Lowell of Har- 
vard University. Chief among the enemies of the League 
were Senator Lodge of Massachusetts, Senator Borah of Idaho, 
and Senator Johnson of Cahfornia. 

Selections from the Sources. (See bibliography to Chapter XXXIII.) 
Every school library should contain the valuable pamphlets published 
by the National Committee on Public Information during the War, 
particularly, the "War Information Series," and the "Red, White, and 
Blue Series." No. i of the former series, "The War Message and Facts 
behind It," and of the latter series. No. 9, "War, Labor, and Peace," are 
particularly valuable. A number of documents have been printed in the 
bimonthly pamphlets of the World Peace Foundation (40 Mt. Vernon 
St., Boston), which may be had for the nominal sum of 25 cents a year. 
Most useful among many useful ones are, "The Supreme War Council" 
(October, 1918) and "China, the United States, and the War" (July, 
1919). A series of monthly pamphlets issued at the same nominal price 
by the American Association for International Conciliation (407 West 
1 1 7th Street, New York City) includes the full text of the Treaty of Peace 
(No. 142). 

Two histories of the war that are almost documentary have been 
prepared (i) by the New York Times, based on its Magazine Current 



xlvi AMERICAN HISTORY 

History, and (2) by The Literary Digest. Of American magazines for 
1917 and 1918, with those mentioned already, The Independent, The 
Atlantic, and The Historical Outlook arc especially useful. It should be 
unnecessary to mention the Annual Reports of the War and Navy De- 
partments. 

Secondary Accounts. Perhaps the most readable general narrative 
of the war is that of Frank H. Simonds. Frederick Palmer, a noted war 
correspondent, who was given a commission and attached to American 
headquarters, has published "America in France." It is semiofficial and 
gives a most interesting survey of the life and adventures of the American 
Expeditionary Force. ]\Iore e.xact and scientific is "The American Army 
in Conflict," by two French officers, translated by Madame de Cham- 
brun. The Story of the Navy, and of the Battle of the Atlantic, are 
admirably told in the ]\lemoirs of Admiral Sims. As a compact manual 
of the problems confronting the Peace Congress, "The Roots of the 
War," by Davis, Anderson, and Tyler, is excellent. Good things in the 
same connection are "The New Map of Europe," by H. A. Gibbons; 
"From Isolation to Leadership," by J. H. Latane ; "The Stakes of the 
War," by S. Stoddard and G. Frank; "The Foreign Policy of Woodrow 
Wilson," by Robinson and Beard; "The League of Nations," edited 
by S. P. Duggan. 

For the contrast of ideals, see "Conquest and Kultur " by Notestein 
and StoU (issued by Committee on Public Information) ; "American 
and Allied Ideals" (,War Information Series No. 12); Gauss, "The 
German Emperor as shown in his Public Utterances" ; "The German War 
Code contrasted with the War Manuals of the United States, Great 
Britain, and France" (War Information Series No. 11) ; Giese, " German 
Autocracy and Militarism" (University of Wisconsin War Pamphlet 
No. 15) ; and a remarkable Danish book by J. P. Bang, translated by 
Jessie Brochner, "Hurrah and Hallelujah." 

Already the histories of particular divisions and regiments have begun 
to appear. Of individual experiences there is no end. By way of 
explaining modern methods of warfare, there is the "National Service 
Library," edited by Major Charles E. Kilbourne. 

Bibliographies. So prodigal has been the output of war literature, 
that what Ijoth teacher and pupil will need most is rcUable bibliographical 
aid. Of first quality is " Collected Materials for the Study of the Waf," 
by A. E. McKinley and others. Very useful is the "Handbook of the 
War," issued by The National Security League. "The United States 
at War, Organizations and Literature," compiled by H. H. B. Meyer, 
is an invaluable government publication. Excellent is the "War 
Cyclopedia" compiled by Paxon, Corwin,and Harding, "Red, White, and 
Blue Scries." Every teacher should have "History and the Great War : 



THE WORLD AT WAR xlvii 

Opportunities for History Teachers" (Circular of the Bureau of Educa- 
tion, September, 1917, prepared by The National Board for Historical 
Service). A bibliography to be recommended is "Peace and Re- 
construction" (World Peace Foundation, Vol. 11, Special Number). 

Subject for Special Reports, i. Contrast of German and American 
Ideals. 2. The Mihtary Situation in March, iQi 7. 3. The Submarine 
in this War. 4. Decisive Inventions of the War. 5. Modern Military 
Methods. 6. Trenches. 7. American Preparations in 191 7. 8. Con- 
scription in America. 9. American War Finance. 10. American Food 
Problems. 11. Welfare Organizations. 12. Life in the Trenches. 
13. Life behind the Trenches. 14. The War in 1917. 15. The Russian 
Collapse. 16. The Italian Defeat. 17. The Supreme War Council. 
18. The German Attack in 1918. 19. Shipping Our Army to France. 
20. Foch's Strategy. 21. An American Action in France (detailed 
study of some one event, such as Belleau Wood). 22. A Problem of the 
Peace Congress (detailed study of some one issue, such as Shantung). 
23. The Nature of the League of Nations. 24, President Wilson as a 
Diplomat. 



